|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2010 8:11 pm
Shivering, cold, and thoroughly miserable, a lone doe shoved her way past the sawgrass blades.
She did not like the rain. In fact, she hated it; rain turned the hard, cracked, ground to mud, and mud clung to her hooves, her fur, dirtying them. Not to mention the sudden cracks of thunder and bolts of lightning that she had to try so hard not to jump at. How unpresentable! She could only hope that no one saw her like this, before she got to the pool of water that was her destination. A skyward glance only brought her a face full of fat raindrops, and disgusted, she tried to shake herself dry.
Like that would work in the rain, she thought wryly.
Evening Star pressed on ahead, willing herself to think only about the nice, long bath she would be taking.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2010 8:42 pm
Ahead of the doe moving unpleasantly though the newly wet mud was a majestic crane. A sacred creature of the beloved swamp. It stood tall and still, it's glowing blue eyes piercing through a few blades of grass at the upcoming doe. She looked beautiful with her hair stuck to her face from the raindrops that had covered her.
The crane spread it's wings and flapped them twice, freeing the raindrops from his feathers for a second so that he could take off into the air with great speed. He flew towards the dawning beacon in the grass until he landed directly in front of it. He landed without a noise, and quickly flapped his wings free of more raindrops. He tilted his head, and stared directly into the bright spot on the dawning between the grass.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2010 9:43 pm
A sudden movement in the grass startled her, and she stepped back instinctively, splattering herself with more mud.
Greaaaaaaaat.
Now there was a crane staring at her, a dark red-purple crane with glowing blue eyes and stars on its feathers. Cautiously she moved forward; slightly curious, slightly glad to have a companion.
Evening Star had a huge soft spot for smaller animals. Especially the fluffy ones, and the birds. Was this one alone? Was he lost? Tilting her head, she inspected him, then ventured a greeting.
'Hey, there, little fellow. What're you doing all the way out here?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 2:31 pm
Stargarden made a strange noise at the doe. How could she be speaking to a little fellow when he was right there in front of her! The crane shook his head, and flapped his feathers at her, splashing her with light raindrops off his wings. That would show her... or so he thought. It was very likely his "attack" would go unnoticed in this weather, the sky from above was already attacking her, why would she notice the sky in front of her. With his wings momentarily dried off again, the crane perched himself up onto one leg and slowly tilted his head again -- this time to the other side. His mouth opened a little, and closed, and then repeated several times almost as if he were thinking of saying something. Finally, a noise came out of his mouth: Rrrrrrrrrrrr.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 6:06 pm
Well, she hadn't known that cranes made "Rrrrrrrrrrr!" sounds, but she found it utterly adorable. And the way he tilted his head when he looked at her! And he had flapped his star-dusted at her, too; was he, perhaps, asking for a cuddle? He was probably shivering of cold, in the rain.
She rather liked this crane, whose star markings vaguely echoed her own. Or perhaps it was the other way round.
Not thinking too much about it, Evening Star decided to pounce. No one else would be here, surely, to see this uncharacteristic display of affection?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 6:42 pm
The crane stared at the doe, tilting his head even further to the side and continued to stare until she came at him and pounced! Stargarden didn't know what to do. He fluttered, struggled and and generally panicked. This was not the way you treated a crane! Tumbling off his one leg, he fell and uncontrollably, he changed his shape back to a stag landing in the mud below with the unknown doe on top of him.
Flap, flap, thwap, thwap...
His cloud of a tail his the ground repeatedly, slowly becoming darker and darker as the thunder formed in the cloud. The stag cleared his throat...
"Excuse me?"
He took a pause in his breath.
"Who are you?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 6:49 pm
Oh..... crap.
That was the first thing Evening Star thought when she realized what she was currently sitting on.
A legendary. She had heard stories of these old ones, who could shape-shift into other animals. Perhaps in the future she should be more wary of which animals she pounced on...
As gracefully as she could, she jumped off him, once again splashing her fur with more mud. The doe cringed slightly, then, after shaking herself off as best as she could, she assumed an air of what she hoped was calmness and elegance.
"I apologize for my behavior, Wise One, and hope you are not offended. My name is Evening Star; could I have the pleasure of knowing yours?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 7:13 pm
The stag took a long breath, and slowly stood up. He stood still on his four legs, taking half a second to re-adjust then he shook his body, very not-poised, to free the mud off his coat. His tail flicked happily, the cloud moving back and forth -- and grabbing Stargarden's attention. For a moment, he spun, trying to catch the cloud until he once again caught sight of the dawning doe. His piercing eyes stared down at her.
It seemed the stag had already forgotten that the doe nearly crushed him as a crane, or perhaps pushed it aside. "My name is Stargarden," he tilted his head, habitually to the side, and took a breath. "It's nice to meet you Evening Star." He thought she looked more like a winter star though, her face was white as the season.
"Are you sure you're not a winter star?" He asked.
After a moment, not waiting for her to reply, he took a step forward, and approached her. It was inspection time. He found himself very close to her face, studying the star. Stars were his friend, they piggybacked on his hide and giggled when it rained. Definitely a winter star! Whatever was it doing here in the rainy season!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 7:21 pm
A.. a winter star? No, she was named for the first star to appear in the sky, the evening star, and she told him that.
If she was intimidated by his inspections, she hoped it didn't show; it was slightly uncomfortable being stared at like that, but hey, a Legendary probably knew what he was doing. Maybe they all behaved like this?
"It is an honour to meet you, Stargarden." (and here she bows to him slightly to show her respect, dipping her head as close to the mud as she can bear.)
"I am, actually, on my way to go star-gazing with someone. I hope the weather clears up, however. I am afraid that we will not see many stars in a cloudy sky."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 8:41 pm
The stag finally stepped back from staring at the doe, shaking his nest of horns slightly freeing the collecting water off of them. From the distance though, he continue to look at her, his bright eyes softening under his gaze. "You're pregnant," he stated blankly.
He didn't expect this to be news to her, that he was just reminding her of a fact she already knew.
"You should not be traveling alone. Allow me to escort." It wasn't really a request. He was going to whether she said yes or not. It just wasn't right to leave such a creature alone in such misery climate and in such a state.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 8:51 pm
She stares at him for what feels like days. Did he just.. say what she thought he said?
Pregnant? Babies? Children? Offspring? Progeny?
Evening Star feels her legs slightly weakening. Stargarden had said it so nonchalantly, so.. matter-of-factly; as if it wasn't a big deal! But what was she supposed to do, now?
Pregnant. Seriously?
How would she tell Darker Dream? She could already imagine his reaction to it, the look on his face completely confused (and she'd be torn between wanting to cuddle with him and wanting to smack him, because he was so cute like that, but babies!)
She couldn't even begin to imagine what motherhood would be like. Sure, she hadn't known her own mother, but she felt as if she had to take care of her own young. Because after all, they were hers.
Taking a deep breath, Evening Star tries to regain her composure. It would not do to embarrass herself in front of a Legendary.
"I would be glad for your company, on this rainy day, Stargarden. But it is not very far to my destination.."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 9:07 pm
The stag looked at the doe, she seemed to be taking it all in like this was the first time she was hearing it! That would be crazy thoughts. He nodded a bit, listening to her be glad for her company. He looked around wondering which direction she was going for a moment until he thought back to when he flew in front of her. So... it was behind him! He turned around a bit, and tilted his head over his shoulders to look at her.
"Well then, you'll be glad and it isn't very far -- there is no reason for you to decline my offer," he said firmly before pointing his head to the direction she was going. "Shall we?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 3:23 am
Still slightly dazed, Evening Star nodded and joined Stargarden at his side. Was she really pregnant? It felt strange to be told just like that, but the doe was already imagining little fluff-balls. More accurately, her own little fluff-balls. Just the thought of that made her want to burst with giggles and dance around in the puddles of mud.
But Stargarden was around, and she struggled to suppress her excitement. She did not want to reveal that embarrassing side of her personality in front of him; she had pounced on him when he had taken the form of a crane, and that was bad enough. Evening Star blushed a little at the memory (how unbecoming!), and hoped the stag would not notice.
They walked in silence for a while, and then she suddenly asked: "Have you.. ever had children before? What were they like?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 11:33 am
Stargarden pushed forward though the mud. His eyes glanced up to to the clearing sky, noticing a few stars here and there peeking through the dispersing clouds. He thought of his precious moon, whom was surely hiding from him up there somewhere. Oh, he would have gone into the sky and stayed with her forever if she'd just come back and say so. He was still waiting, still hoping she'd come see him again. He never thought of children until this doe had brought it up, he wasn't sure. He didn't think he... did? Did he? Surely he didn't! He'd know, wouldn't he? The stag was quiet.
"I would have been delighted to bring expand the horizon with children with my fair moon."
It was vague, but Stargarden didn't know. He didn't want to say he hadn't had children and offend his moon who might possible be hiding up in the sky behind the clouds, listening to his answer!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 6:34 pm
His.. fair moon? She supposed that he was talking about a doe; perhaps her name was that, Fair Moon. Evening Star could imagine how pretty she was, if her name lent any clue.
And he called her his moon! That was pretty sweet. Darker Dream would never do such a thing- wh..what was she even thinking? It's not like she would want him to. The doe shook her head, as though she could shake the idea away.
Slightly sheepishly, she turned to Stargarden.
"I am sorry you could not have done so, Stargarden, and forgive me for asking. Tell me: what was your moon like?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
