[SRP] A search begins... [Allania, Gizmo]

[Rita Zyon]

This is a private roleplay between my soquili Allania and one of my familiars, Gizmo. Please do not post, thank you. Teepee

 

[Rita Zyon]

It was a cool winter morning. The sun was hidden behind some clouds and with the darkening sky, it looked to Allania like it might snow later in the afternoon, or perhaps the evening if the weather held out long enough. Surprisingly it had been a mild winter this year, it hadn't snowed much and the temperature had been fairly good. Allania had been enormously lucky and she thanked mother nature each night for it. At least three months must have passed since she left the meadow that lay at the base of the mountains.

As the ivory and gold coloured mare trotted past snow covered grasslands, she thought about what she would say when she found her siblings. It had been years since she'd seen them. Allania felt extremely guilty now over her decision to leave them while she searched for their herd. They should have stayed together and gone when N'llorre was older. But no, Allania had been determined to find them, choosing to leave her siblings behind with the elderly couple that had been kind to take them in after their mother....

Her eyes were prickling again from the thoughts of her mother, Allania blinked her sea green eyes rapidly as she sniffed. The tears now gone, the winged mare continued on her way as she passed by a few oak trees. She turned left and walked on what she assumed was a path. At least it was a path of sorts as various prints covered the snow, some larger than hers, and some about the same size. The shapes were hooves too, but Allania was unable to tell how fresh they were. It would have been a kindness to have company, someone to chat with and ask if they'd seen her siblings.

Alas, she was alone.  

[Rita Zyon]

Gizmo the squirrel yawned and stretched as he woke from a deep sleep. His stomach gurgled, he was hungry and needed to eat. The gray, red, and tawny coloured squirrel reached around for an acorn to chew on. His small paws latched onto the closest acorn and he pulled it towards him. Unfortunately for him, the acorn slipped from his paws, rolling from him and out of his home. He poked his neck out to look outside of the hole inside the oak tree that Gizmo had made his home, searching for his lost acorn. He spotted the acorn-shaped hole in the snow, many feet away.

Gizmo had spent many weeks gathering acorns and other nuts in preparation for the colder months and every piece of food collected was important. It had been a lot of hard work but it gave him pleasure to be kept busy. Placing the nuts in a particular way was important to him as was collecting the best bedding to lay in during each night's sleep. He enjoyed doing things carefully and making sure everything was perfect. Losing an acorn to the snow was not good, he needed to get it back.

The squirrel crept out of his home and started to scurry down the tree. He was getting closer to the bottom when he spotted something large coming towards the tree he was on. It was a mare, pale with swirl markings all over her body. He backed up the tree, settling on one of the oak branches. Gizmo watched the mare carefully, hoping she'd pass his tree quickly so that he could grab his acorn. He didn't dare attempt to grab it now. He was small and would rather not risk being stepped on, like he almost had once before..  

[Rita Zyon]

She paused underneath an oak tree. The tree had a hole in its trunk, she noticed. Her green eyes looked the rest of the tree over, it was a nicely sized tree and she could imagine it would lovely with its leaves during the spring and summer seasons. Allania thought it was a good place to take a short break. She went to lie down on the snow but chose to keep her head up. She didn’t want to take a nap here because it didn’t provide a lot of shelter. Allania hadn’t been in these parts in years and so, would rather not sleep in the open. This area could be dangerous now for all she knew. Also, it was still early in the day to sleep. Breaks here and there to rest her legs were fine, but taking a nap would make her feel even guiltier.

Since heading back home in hopes of finding her twin and younger sister, Allania had tried to not sleep for long periods of time during the night. She also chose to not take many breaks. However, this had been a mistake as she quickly became burned out from all the travelling she was doing. She ended up having to take shelter in a cave for a few days before she was ready to head back out again. As a result, Allania took more breaks now throughout the day to either rest her legs or to eat and she also tried to sleep for a good amount of hours each night.

As Allania lay there in the cool snow, her thoughts drifted to the amount of traveling she had left to do. She had been traveling for a few months and the area she was in now seemed vaguely familiar. It was a possibility that she had lived around here with her herd when she was young. Or perhaps she was growing closer to the area she had lived in after she and her siblings couldn't find their way back to the herd. The elderly couple had been kind to them and Allania wished she had been more thankful towards them for everything they had done. She had been courteous and polite, as her mother had raised her to be; but, thinking back now as an adult, Allania felt she hadn’t expressed as much gratitude as she should have.

Allania sighed. It was difficult to continuously think about her past and what she could and should have done differently. Perhaps it would be easier if she had someone to talk with but she didn’t have close friends, only acquaintances that she had met during her travels thus far. She also had never been in love so there was no mate for her to discuss things with either.

When she was younger, all Allania could think about was finding the herd her family had lived in. She didn’t find the herd in its entirety but she had managed to find past members of it that had moved on to join new herds, live on their own, or form their own herd. By that time years had passed. Now, she was just as determined to reunite with her younger siblings. It was a sad thought to consider but she wondered if she would recognize her siblings and they her. Allania shook her head. No, she was sure she would know them when she saw them, especially Zei for he was her twin.  

[Rita Zyon]

Good grief! The squirrel thought as he watched the mare lay down underneath his tree. Should he risk getting his acorn? Gizmo didn't like taking risks. It was important to do his day-to-day tasks in the same order as the previous day. Stepping outside those boundaries could lead to very certain death! Gizmo prided himself on his careful routine and his ability to avoid trouble. Being a squirrel, there were many dangerous animals that could eat him if he didn't stay alert.

However, losing an acorn was not part of his plans! Gizmo watched the mare for awhile, she seemed lost in thought. Would she notice him scurrying nearby to retrieve his acorn? Also, if she did by-chance caught a glimpse of him would he be her dinner? Gizmo tried to remember if horses with feathered wings ate meat or not, but, he couldn't recall.

Gizmo walked on the branch back and forth as he weighed his two options. Option A: Risk his life by retrieving the acorn he was going to eat or Option B: Do not retrieve the lost acorn and instead delve into his extra stock of food. But, by delving into his extra stock he ran the risk of not having enough when an actual emergency arose. Gizmo supposed that he could skip a meal, despite the fact that every meal was important.

With so many ticks against option B, Gizmo knew he had to take the risk and go after his acorn. Gulping nervously, Gizmo eyed the mare apprehensively as he began to climb down his oak tree. Please don't notice me, he thought.  

[Rita Zyon]

What path should she pursue next? Allania thought, as she turned her head to the left and then to the right. Although it was true that the area she was in was familiar to her, Allania was confident that this area wasn't one of the places she had visited a lot in the past - it was familiar, but, not too familiar. Would going to the left lead her closer to her old home? Or would going towards the right be the correct path? It was difficult to decide because taking the wrong path could add weeks to her journey.

Even so, at the back of her mind was always a concern that her siblings might not live in these parts anymore. Allania shook her vehemently - it was no good to consider such thoughts. She had to be optimistic. As she lay in the snow, the ivory and gold mare did not notice as Gizmo came down from his tree and headed towards her carefully. Her thoughts were overwhelming at times. Meeting someone new for Allania to converse with was becoming more desirable as each day passed. When was the last time she encountered another Soquili? "Too long." She murmured to herself. Traveling could at times be a lonely experience.  

[Rita Zyon]

The mare was distracted. Perfect timing. Gizmo thought happily. His heart was beating rapidly though, nervous at getting caught by an unknown soquili. True she looked nice enough, but appearances could be deceiving. Gizmo prided himself on his wariness and guidelines for living a long and healthly life as a squirrel. He crept slowly towards the mare, his purple eyes fixated on her. Her face was turned away from Gizmo and he knew this was his chance. He hopped through the snow his eyes moving away from her as he passed the winged, ivory and gold coloured mare. His acorn was within his reach. Almost got it. He thought excitedly. He reached out, his claws brushing his acorn when he heard, "Oh...hello." Gizmo froze.  

[Rita Zyon]

Allania turned her head to the side, sea green eyes looking around. The land was quiet, there wasn't even a breeze in the wind. Perhaps it was too quiet in a way. Was there truly no one around? She continued to look around until her ears perked up at the slight sounds of movement near her. Allania looked to her left and right. Seeing no one she decided to look down and her green eyes widened with surprise. It was a tri-coloured squirrel, how very surprising. The squirrel was reaching out towards something. An acorn? Allania wondered. Although the squirrel wasn't a Soquili, Allania couldn't deny how grateful she was to see another being. But, was this squirrel one of the animals that could converse with Soquili? A familiar being? "Only one way to find out," she murmured.

"Oh...hello." Allania called out to him.