[PRP] Arrival (Hayalet, Corwin, Coralia)

[Cajmera]

Corwin
~~~

Corwin wasn't surprised, but he was a bit disappointed with Coralia's reasoning. Now that his sister had pointed it out, he did agree there was a certain creepy barrenness to the area. With the many available resources, there really ought to be many Soquili about, possibly even a herd. The fact that there was no one made it seem as though the inhabitants had been driven away, driven away by...something.

Unconsciously, he rubbed at one of the large scars on his flank. They had been on the move for so long, ever since their run-in with the Kalona herd. They had remained on the move, largely because of the Kalona herd. It was true that they hadn't exactly been keeping an eye on the herd, but it had been so large and so devastating that it had been hard to miss. Then, without their even realizing it, the herd had just...vanished.

It had been surprising, to lose track of such a massive gathering of Kalona, but relieving at the same time. Instead of constantly looking over their shoulders, he and Coralia had been able to really look around and see what their was to see. They hadn't seen anything worth stopping for, but it had been nice to have the opportunity.

Suddenly, in this pristine place, he found himself feeling that old, familiar chill. Had the Kalona been here, too?  

[Cajmera]

Coralia
~~~

Corwin's gesture had been small, practically insignificant. However, over the past several months Coralia had come to know Corwin's nervous tics as well as she knew any of her own. Throughout their childhood and adolescence, it had been Coralia who had been hyper-sensitive, who had been the one to twitch at random moments. Corwin had handled the everything that came up with his characteristic aplomb; Coralia had been both jealous of his control and fearful as to what might be lurking under the surface.

Since the Kalona attack, though, his smoothness had cracked in multiple places, not limited to his hide. She had noticed he had taken to rubbing the scars, particularly when he was anxious or had something on his mind. It was a small gesture, but to Coralia, it spoke volumes.

And she didn't like hearing those volumes.

Gently, she rested one wing on her brother's flank, laying it right over one of the larger scars. "Och, there isna any reason for yehr mind to go tae that place, Cory. Weh're safe here, an' we booth ken it. This worry is boot a caution on my paert, nethin' more."  

[Cajmera]

Corwin
~~~

Corwin appreciated the sentiment, even if it chagrined him no small amount to realize how transparent he was being. He hadn't even realized he'd developed his nervous habit until Coralia had pointed it out to him; since then, he had done his best to break it, with no success. After all, how could one control an involuntary action? But it was damned annoying, he had to admit; while he and his sister were close, once in a while he ought to be able to mull and brood without alarming her.

But for now, the cat was out of the metaphorical bag, and he gave his sister a rueful smile. "I ken what yeh're sayin', Cora, boot yeh have tae admit the poosibility is oot there. Weh lost track o' the hehrd, after all; we dinna ken where they went after that. How can weh be certayne they didna coome this way? Now that the thought is there, I canna stay here." At that, he shook his head vehemently, kicking at the branch of the tree. "Weh can keep lookin', weh joost nehd to foind sometheng a bit less...empty."  

[Cajmera]

Coralia
~~~

Cora had taken her brother at his word, and the two had set off accordingly. For the next few days, they had wandered about the region, ruling out this area and that area for one reason or another. After a day's walking, they had stumbled upon some other Soquili, which both took as a good sign. However, they had remained silent, as Coralia didn't want to encourage any conversation with anyone until they had decicded where they wished to settle. If her brother thought she was being overly cautious, he at least remained mum on the subject, allowing her to handle things as she saw fit.

To be honest, Cora was starting to find his acquiescence a bit eerie by the end of the week. They had always gotten along well; unlike other siblings of their acquaintance, they almost always had talked things out, rather than argue or fight. But Cora was used to a bit more resistance; this 'whatever you think, Cora' business was starting to get to her.

Finally, she couldn't take it any more. The two had stopped for lunch on a field of wild flowers, and they had just settled into their grazing routine when she suddenly turned to her brother. "Alroight, then; yeh're goin' tae tell me what's been on yehr mind, an' yeh're goin' tae do it wi' minimal foos."  

[Cajmera]

Corwin
~~~

To say that Corwin felt ambushed was putting it mildly; after all, he had a mouthful of grass! Though he ought to have suspected something was going on; Coralia had been acting stranger and stranger over the course of the past few days, giving him odd sideways looks and spending a lot of time buried in thought. He had decided that the best course of action was to let her mull over whatever was on her mind; knowing his sister as he did, he was confident that she would tell him about it when she was ready.

He just would have preferred she not be ready when he was eating lunch.

Still, he knew better than to expect her to wait when she had a bee in her bonnet, so he swallowed his current mouthful and met her gaze squarely. "I dinna ken what it is yeh're talkin' aboot, Cora; yeh're the one tha's been actin' peculiar, loike. I've been worryin' aboot yeh, but there's no' much tae say beyond that." Shrugging, he bent down to grab another mouthful of the tender grass, stating through the mouthful as he did, "Besides, do yeh really want tae be havin' this conversation afore we can enjooy the best grazin' we've seen in o'er a week?"  

[Cajmera]

Hayalet
~~~

It was strange, being down in the Lowlands again. Hayalet had been down here before, on multiple occasions; during his 'rebellious' youth, on collection expeditions, in an attempt to see if he was meant for the Lowland life. Each visit had been different, with different goals and expectations. But each time, he had felt the same sense of exposure; the same sense that instead of being above the world, he was completely immersed in it. It was exhilarating and terrifying all at once; for one who loved to be removed and observe, it was about as far out of his comfort zone as he could get.

Hayalet was also aware that he was not 'typical' of the Lowland Soquili, at least in relation to any he'd met and had heard of. His appearance aside, he was too removed, too remote; he had never been big on interaction, he found the concept of herds claustrophobic, and he felt far too vulnerable to whatever the lands felt like throwing at him. In the mountains, he was able to lie back and watch the world unfold beneath him; he was protected from the elements and other Soquili alike. That had been to his advantage, as far as the Kalona herd went. He doubted it had even occurred to the herd to range as far north as the mountains; inhospitable grasslands meant a lack of Soquili, which meant a lack of prey.

It might be unpleasant to contemplate, but it was true.

A few days had passed since Hayalet had come down from the safety of his mountain home, and those few days had been enough to make him long for the plateau more than ever. The battlefields had been cleared and the victims had been buried, but too little time had passed to wipe away the miasma of death. Hayalet only had to close his eyes and he could picture the battle as it had been, in all its gory glory. One battle site had been enough, but he pressed on, stopping at each site he could find to meditate and pray for the departed and for peace to return to the battle sites.

He had only meant to cut across the little meadow on his way to the next site. He hadn't had any intention of stopping, because he was comfortably fed and had no idea there was anyone around. However, as he made his way through the flowers he cocked one ear, then paused as the sound of voices caught his attention; one was obviously a mare, and her voice was raised and emotional. He couldn't be sure about the other speaker, as their voice was low, but there was enough in the mare's tone to attract his attention. Not only was she speaking heatedly, but she had a strong accent that told Hayalet that she too was a stranger to these parts.

He hated to meddle, but given the isolation of the area and the freshness of the Kalona herd's departure, he felt he ought to make sure everything was ok. In these times, one could never be too sure.

"Hello?"  

[Cajmera]

Coralia
~~~

Coralia had been about to launch into a good discussion with her brother; after all, he was being oddly defensive, and his turning her worry around on her was not helping his case. The very idea that she was acting weird, when he was so clearly the one suffering! She was as normal as she'd ever been, with nothing remotely 'peculiar' about either her manner or her speech. And how convenient, for him to have been worrying about her for so long but only bringing the matter up when she told him how worried she was about him! Nope, this was a classic deflection tactic, and she did not feel like being deflected. Not even for food.

However, before she got a chance to get into that conversation, both twins tensed up as an unfamiliar voice came carrying over the flowers. They had been more preoccupied with each other than they should, Cora realized; that, and she'd gotten too comfortable with the general emptiness they'd been seeing everywhere. They needed to remember that the world was a dangerous place, and they should never let their guard down, not even for a moment!

Consequently, she hissed to her brother, "There's someone else here!" As she spoke, Coralia sank down lower amidst the flowers, gesturing with a wing for Corwin to do the same. No sense in being anything other than prepared!  

[Cajmera]

Corwin
~~~

For his own part, Corwin was more than happy to have a diversion. He would have preferred to be able to just graze, but he knew his sister well enough to know when she wasn't going to let something go. He had only to glance at her now and he would see the same determined fire in her eyes. She might be taking a beat to deal with the arrival of a stranger, but he knew that their conversation was not over. And apparently in her current mood, she was in no mind to acknowledge that she was behaving in a worrying manner herself!

So Corwin finished his mouthful of grass and acknowledged Coralia's hissed remark. However, unlike Coralia, who then disappeared down amidst the flowers, Corwin poked his head up and past the floral veil, looking around for the speaker. The stranger's voice had been pleasant, after all, and Corwin wasn't going to dismiss anyone out of hand.

It didn't take long to see the stallion in question; like Corwin and Coralia, his coat and mane were black and white, a startling contrast to the bright vibrancy of the landscape. However, this stallion was unlike anything Corwin had ever seen, and he found himself staring in rapt fascination at the large stallion's equally large, spreading wings. Amazing!  

[Cajmera]

Hayalet
~~~

Strange; Hayalet knew beyond a shadow of a doubt he had heard voices in the meadow, but there wasn't another soul to be seen. His greeting, rather than flushing the speakers out into the open, seemed to have rendered them silent in addition to invisible; at any rate, he no longer heard them.

Hayalet shook his head as he continued along through the meadow. He had always considered himself a spiritual Soquili; his connection with the Great Spirits was deep and binding, as was his family's history. Even his own name, 'Hayalet', was a reference to a supernatural being. But having a spiritual connection with the world's spirits was one thing; it was another things completely to start thinking you were hearing ghosts. Hayalet considered himself a spiritual realist; he believed in the spirits, but ghosts and phantoms were something...well, something outside his realm of belief.

Not that he believed the voices WERE ghosts, but there was still something eerie about disembodied voices, particularly disembodied voices in what was recently a field of battle.

But he'd give this one more shot: "Hello, is there anyone else about?" He paused, glancing around the meadow one more time, before adding, "I promise I'm not dangerous."  

[Cajmera]

Coralia
~~~

Coralia loved her brother dearly, but sometimes he really could be a piece of work. No sooner had Cora herself ducked down below the flower line than she saw Corwin poke his head up, past the protection of the flower line and into the exposed air. Sure, he was still in his small form, which meant that he, like she, was no bigger than a hummingbird; however, he was still exposed, and still very white and black amidst a field of pink flowers. All it would take was for the stranger to glance in the correct direction for a minute, and he would see exactly where they were hiding.

She was not amused.

Gritting her teeth, she hissed once more up at her brother. "Cory, wha' in the wehrld do yeh thenk yeh're doin' oop there? Ge' doon here a' once, a'fore yeh're spotted! Weh dinna ken who tha' stranger is, or wha' he's doin' here! It isna safe to be pookin' yehr head oot theyre, no' yet!"  

[Cajmera]

Corwin
~~~

It was amazing how twins could be so very similar in some ways, yet so different in either. Corwin and Coralia looked alike; they spoke with the same inflections. They tended to like the same foods, the same climates, the same hobbies, and they even approached problems with a similar sense of confidence. But where Coralia was cautious and defensive, Corwin was open, outward focused. The very trials that had made Coralia more determined to stay with Corwin alone made Corwin just as desperate to interact with more Soquili, to know that the good hadn't all died in an orgy of blood.

He understood Coralia's concern, but he wasn't going to waste this opportunity to meet someone new, particularly someone who looked so amazing and appeared to pose no threat. What was the other stallion going to do, flog them to death with his hair?

Breaking his gaze away from the stallion to look down through the flowers at his sister, he shook his head in response to her protests. "Yeh're worryin' too much, Cora; yeh canna see hem down there, but I can. He's no' a Kalona; he's no' anything I've ever seyn before, in fact, He has big featthere wings, boot there are many o' them! I'm goin' tae go introduce myself."

And before Cora had a chance to say anything else, Corwin had fluttered up and out of the protection of the flowers over to the stranger, calling out a cheery "Hello," of his own.  

[Cajmera]

Hayalet
~~~

Patience was a virtue; more than that, it was often its own reward. Hayalet's patience was rewarded only a few short moments after his latest greeting by the appearance of...well, he wasn't really sure! At first glance, he'd thought it was a small bird, or a large butterfly. He was leaning towards it being a large butterfly, until it fluttered its way close to Hayalet and called out a cheery greeting of its own. Hayalet might not be a naturalist, but he knew that butterflies couldn't talk. They particularly couldn't talk with light, lilting brogues, and they, to the best of his knowledge, did not have equine bodies!

Hayalet hadn't had much experience with other Soquili beyond the land of his parents,' and he'd never heard so much as a whisper about the existence of flutters. However, as he surveyed the small Soquili flitting about his head, he wasn't in the least bit put off; fascinated, intrigued, yes, but not the least bit put off. What an unexpected thing to find!

"Well, hello to you, my friend! I hope I haven't disturbed you from anything important, but I heard voices without seeing any Soquili and had to be sure I wasn't going mad!"  

[Cajmera]

Coralia
~~~

Stupid, stupid, stupid! It took every ounce of Coralia's self control not to yell after her brother; what was he thinking, the great daft idiot?! With his body still vividly marked up by scars from their last experience 'meeting strangers', you'd think that he'd have more sense than to go flying up into the face of the unknown, particularly in his small form! While it was great to be little for purposes of snacking or hiding, it was the worst possible way to introduce yourself to a stranger, in Coralia's opinion; if the stranger was of a murderous intent, all it would take was one bite, of one flap of a normal sized wing, and that would be the end of the tiny flutter. It was common sense, and common safety at that. But did her brother remember that, or if he did, did he care? Nope, he just fluttered on up, expecting that just because the stranger didn't look like a Kalona he was trustworthy and harmless.

Honestly, sometimes Cora just wanted to give Corwin a good smack of her own!

Still, what was done was done. Corwin might have acted like an impulsive idiot, but he was her brother, therefor she was not going to abandon him to his idiocy. Gritting her teeth, Coralia stepped closer to the hairy stallion, right as she shifted up into her 'large' size. Compared to him, she was still downright puny, but it was a lot better than being a moth next to a giant! Without waiting for Corwin to answer the stallion, or offering any pleasantries of her own, she jumped right into the conversation herself. "Well, yeh havenae interroopted mooch, oonless yeh consehdeher dinner tae be soometheng werth respectin'," she said flatly. "Boot clehrly tha's no' the case, sae weh'll joost be movin' oon past tha' issue."

She could tell that her brother was frowning at her, even in his small size; obviously he thought her bluntness was very rude. Well, tough tooties. He should have thought of the consequences before diving into conversation with a stranger! Still, she didn't want to give Corwin too much cause for upset, so she made a slight attempt to temper her tone and her stance before she continued, "Tha' bein' sehd, yeh dinna have tae be wooryin' aboot oos. Weh're no' ghosties, or spirits, or anytheng oot o' theh ordinary; joost a normal, everyday pair o' flutters, mindin our own business in what we thenk tae be a pooblic field, loike."

There. Surely Corwin had no fault to find with that! She had been pleasant and even marginally informative; however, she wasn't going to offer any further information, not about herself, her brother, their reasons for being there, anything. The strange stallion might have a friendly smile, but he was still a stranger and an unknown species. It was foolish to tell too much to someone you just met, and she didn't believe in being foolish. If only that brother of hers felt the same way, though!  

[Cajmera]

Hayalet
~~~

...And the little equine not-butterfly was not alone.

Hayalet knew he shouldn't be surprised; after all, he had been sure he heard voices, plural, drifting through the flowers earlier. It was a conversation that had attracted his attention, a back-and-forth between two distinctly different voices. The odds of both those voices having come from the same Soquili was small, and logically, he should have known to expect there to be more than one of the little Soquili when the first revealed himself. But all that being true, Hayalet still nearly jumped a mile when the small mare appeared out of nowhere. Really, as far as Hayalet was concerned it was literally nowhere; one moment, she hadn't been there, the next moment, she was standing right in front of him, scowling.

Instinctively, Hayalet took a step back; it wasn't that the mare was standing too close, or that he was in any way physically intimidated by her. After all, she barely came up to his shoulder, if that! But in spite of her dainty size, there was something aggressive about the mare; between her planted feet, defensive stance, and the obvious distaste in her expression as she took him in, he'd have to be either blind or an idiot to miss it! Naturally, putting some space between himself and such hostility seemed prudent.

But he wasn't the sort to be easily cower, not even by magically appearing, angry butterfly Soquili. Once he'd increased the distance between them, he heard out what the mare was saying with a polite nod. Clearly she was not feeling as friendly as the little stallion; whatever her reasons, Hayalet was determined to change her mind.

Though if he failed in that, at least he wanted to be able to have said he tried!

"Well, I apologize for interrupting your meal, Miss;" he said with an apologetic duck of his head. "Had I realized you two were eating, I might have gone a different way, but seeing as how I'm here now, would you two care to visit for a little while? I'm a visitor to these parts myself, and I have to admit you two are the first of...well, of your kind that I've ever seen. If it's not too intrusive, would you mind telling me what you are? Your wings are gorgeous, but they remind me of nothing so much as a butterfly," Hayalet added with a smile. "And I've never seen them on anything else."

Hopefully the mare wouldn't take umbrage at his curiosity; he had tried to direct the question at both mare and stallion, but he had to admit; he'd much rather continue his conversation with the stallion at this point. Though speaking of the stallion...

Goodness, he'd just grown up himself! Suddenly, Hayalet found himself looking at TWO 'large' butterfly Soquili, whose physical appearances practically mirrored one another. Brother and sister at the very least, Hayalet thought, or he'd eat his own hair! Though there were obvious differences, besides the gender thing; the stallion was larger, more muscular, more filled out in general...and at this size, Hayalet could clearly see the newish scars that crisscrossed all over one side of the stallion's body.

Suddenly, the mare's hostility was making a lot of sense.