[PRP] La Lechuga (See Inside)

[Ryuukishin]

Jin-Soo, Lazarus, Nashide Namae aka Bitey, and Anchovy (Ryuukishin) & Mest, Lux Flamma, and Maleńki (xxx Yuki Bear xxx)

 

[Ryuukishin]

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The beach had been a pleasant place to settle: boasting good weather, shallows to swim in, and a myriad of life forms to observe and interact with, he could easily see why it was a favored vacation spot for many. But despite its many perks, its assortment of greens for the common herbivore soquili left much to be desired. His children, Bitey and Kraken, had inherited a capacity for digesting meat from their mother, but his own genes were lacking in that department. Crab and fish were not meant for his palate, and neither was seaweed. Thus it came to him to find nourishment in the forest beside the shores that made up their home, and that he did, with a particularly interesting find today.

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“What’s that?” Bitey had a preference for greens over reds, and had come to greet her father on his way back. In his mouth was a large flower that looked like no grass or leaf she’d ever seen before, and she stood upon her hind legs with her knees resting on his chest to nose at the object.

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“The mare who traded it to me called it a lechuga,” Jin explained after setting it down on the floor. He’d never tried it, but he was sure no land-based plant could be as salty as seaweed. Just in case, he had dunked it into a lake before coming here, and the remaining dew glistened temptingly amongst the furling leaves.

He nuzzled his daughter’s head. “Did you want to try it?”

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“Yeah!” Bitey’s enthusiasm was unmistakable, and she showed this by chomping at the deposited “lechuga.” Alas, she was still young and uncoordinated, and her too-forward lunge coupled with her snapping lips sent the roll of lettuce tumbling forward and down an incline.

“Hey! Wait a minute!” she called, following after it.

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Lazarus padded behind his charge, keeping track of her progress beneath half-lidded eyes. Anchovy was full of energy – something he had not expected considering her age and size. Did all children start off so enthusiastic? She was running circles round his legs and Mest’s or dashing ahead or rolling around whatever smelly object she could find on the floor.

“Don’t touch that,” he warned, just in the nick of time: her body was poised above a frog carcass, angled in preparation of her planned fall. She blew a raspberry at him but obeyed all the same.

Anchovy had done little more than sleep when she first emerged from the basket, and he wished she would do the same now. They could tuck her in beneath a bush (that was adequate shelter, right?) and find some place to be alone... but Mest seemed loathe to leave her by herself. A sort of protective instinct, he supposed. It was not something he understood; he let those he loved protect him, not the other way around. Still, he couldn’t complain. Mest was watching over him, too, after all. He supposed he should try and help keep an eye out for potential threats to their magical offspring, just in case, say, a ball of lettuce roughly the same height and width as Anchovy came rolling out of nowhere and whacked her in the face.

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Anchovy was knocked clean off her feet. Instantly recovering, she crowed a challenge to the offending vegetable, and proceeded to call it names that any respectable soquili would have found horrifying. “Green... thing!” and “You smell like leaves!” were but a few of the choice insults she threw at it until, out of both breath and vocabulary, she promptly forgot the reason for her anger in the first place and began to nibble its edges.

 

[xxx Yuki Bear xxx]

Mest chuckled at the antics of his small one and their even smaller one. He had been laughing more, ever since Lazarus had pulled Anchovy's tiny little basket back to their resting place. Mest was happier. Laz was happier. Everything was looking up for the little, unique family.

He couldn't help the instinctual jerk forward as something flew from the bushes and attacked his young. A panicked snort escaped him before he reared back, ready to stomp whatever had dared to come after his precious little angel into the dirt. Before he descended to unleash hell, he heard his little spitfire of a daughter unleashing a string of odd insults. He lowered his hooves. Oh. It was... a vegetable of some sort. Mest narrowed his eyes at it, and leaned down to nudge at his daughter.

"Are you okay, my little warrior?" he asked, snuffling her dark hair and looking her over for bumps even as she continued to curse at the inanimate object.

✹ ✹ ✹

Lux had been trailing the odd family for a few days, part of her insanely curious of their unusual dynamic. The other part of her wanted to take their small companion... daughter? She was unsure of the exact relation yet. The big gray stallion was a warrior if she ever saw one, and because of this she needed to keep her distance. As a round vegetable flew from the brush and hit the small one, Lux's tail whipped against the flank of the small form huddled near her ankles.

"Go befriend the little one," she hissed. "And remember to smile, pathetic worm," He was becoming pretty useless lately, the sniveling beast. Stealing him from that stupid couple had been more trouble than it was worth. Perhaps this little mare would be his replacement if he screwed this up.

✹ ✹ ✹

Maleńki let out a squeak as the familiar sting of his mama's tail flared against his side. He frowned and glanced at the group in the distance. His mother wanted him to make a friend? He was a bit suspicious of her motives, but the thought of playing with someone that didn't call him mean names or hit him was too much to ignore. He carefully moved around the brush and hobbled towards the group.  

[Ryuukishin]

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“I am!” Anchovy assured him. Her wings and tail wriggled at the new find, tickling her father’s chin while she took another experimental bite. Without warning, she tore off a leaf and nudged it into Mest’s open mouth. She was hungry, and he might be, too!

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The “lechuga” bumped into a few trunks, but it was going much too quickly for them to do much more than alter its direction. Bitey chased after it as fast as she could, the sound of her father’s voice appealing to her to be careful fading with distance. It was too late, though: she was running too fast to stop.

Luckily, the hill was one that sloped down gradually. When she finally caught up to it at the base of the hill, the first thing that drew her attention was the little soquili dining on the lechuga. The next thing she noticed was that she was in a small clearing, with at least four others in the area: the eater, two huge stallions, and another small shadow approaching from the corner. She’d not expected an audience, and she stepped back quickly, knowing she’d already been seen and hoping she wouldn’t be followed. Before she could get too far, her rear end bumped into something.

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“Where are you going?” Jin was breathing hard. It had been no easy task for such a large draft as himself to navigate the downward slope at a pace fast enough to keep up with his daughter. But though out of breath he may be, he was not wholly unalert. He glanced around to find the cause of Bitey’s retreat and was relieved to see it was only strangers. She was made shy by her sideways mouth, and though she was beginning to grow more confident about her looks, she was not wholly there yet.

He gave her a nudge, not to push her forward, but to press against her reassuringly. It would be her choice to stay or go.

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Being raised by parents always cautious of outside dangers was not very conducive to a welcoming temperament. Anchovy’s response to the newcomers was strike up a defensive position first and send a warning second, by way of flared wings and lowered ears. It was not until the third step that she began to assess them and realize two of the three were small, just like her!

“Hello! Hi!” A quick glance back to ensure her parents did not judge the situation to be dangerous, and then she was off, rolling the lettuce before her. The two foals had come from nearly opposite ends, but that was okay; she could simply run up to them both!

The blue one had a big dad, just like she did! She chest-bumped the filly to signify her approval before circling around to greet the other one, delighted with the number of company. The black one was similar to her, but in size and traits only. His timorous carriage stood out in stark difference to her own. Fear was alien to her young mind, and she cocked her head at him curiously.

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Poorly trained in the art of courtesy, Lazarus could not help but openly stare at the scar that ran up the filly’s face. It was not until she tried to speak and he saw the flicker of pink that he realized it was a mouth. The stallion was clearly related to the young soquili, but he looked positively normal compared to her. Strange, but they did not seem too threatening, and neither did the usdia foal. That didn’t stop him from stepping closer to Mest, however.

“We’re being surrounded,” he stage-whispered, wondering if babies happened to serve as other-baby-magnets as well. The appearance of the other two children was uncanny. Were their parents going to come, too?

 

[xxx Yuki Bear xxx]

Mest's eyes widened comically as the leaf was thrust into his mouth. The bland flavor made him wince, but he chewed it regardless and swallowed in case Anchovy liked it. He did not wish to discourage anything she might enjoy.

"It's... good," he forced out, side-eyeing Lazarus. He noticed that Laz's gaze was trained elsewhere, and following his line of sight, Mest finally noticed the stallion and foals on the edge of the foliage around them. He tensed, saying nothing as his daughter did her thing. In his experience, strangers were never a good thing, but it was not often that Anchovy encountered others her age and size. If it was just this one full-grown stallion, they'd be fine. He was keeping an eagle-eye on his little foal.

"... It's fine," he finally muttered to Lazarus while eyeing the other draft stallion. "Play nice, Anchovy," he called, observing the chest-bump.

✹ ✹ ✹

Lux frowned from the cover of the bushes. Another stallion and foal had appeared. Friends of the three? No, she had not seen them once as she trailed the trio.

"Strangers, how interesting," she murmured. Perhaps this could be another foal added to her collection. She glared at Mal's back as he continued to slink towards the group, willing her gaze to burn him like the fire she cherished. "Mess this up, and you are done," she hissed to herself.

She just had to wait and see what he could accomplish, and make sure to plan her entrance right. She would let the group drop their guard, and then swoop in and destroy them. Lux stared out of the shadows and watched as the little grey foal approached her minion.

"Soon, oh so soon ~" she cooed.

✹ ✹ ✹

Maleńki tried not to startle as the little Putti foal approached him. He had never met someone his size before, especially someone that had wings like his. Even though hers were feathered, and his of the leathery sort, he could not help but marvel at the physical similarities they shared. Looking around, he took in the appearances of all the other strangers. They were so much bigger than him, especially the huge grey stallion who kept eyeballing him. Mal turned his attention back to Anchovy.

"U-Um... Hi," he whispered. His mama had not given him instructions on what to say, so he was left to flounder on his own. Usually she would give him things to say to lure unsuspecting strangers in her direction, like his mother was hurt, he was lost, or he was hurt. But this time she had only said to befriend this little foal, and Mal did not have any friends. How did one befriend others? "Mal!" he croaked, finally. "Um m-my name is Mal, hi..." He flushed, looking down. He hoped that he could make Mother proud for once.  

[Ryuukishin]

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Lazarus nodded, trusting the other’s judgment and glad for the scenario. He was neither fond of children nor strangers, but Mest’s sanction reflected the more easy-going air that had come since Anchovy’s birth, chasing away their cloud of tension, though not fully dissipating it. After Growl had left, Mest’s mind had a tendency to wander, with the stallion’s doubts and misgivings hinting at a past that threatened to reveal itself. Lazarus knew not what lay in store, only that the lies he’d built were in jeopardy, as was his safety.

Nik had trained him in hunting long ago, but since his run-in with Mest, he had purposefully allowed his skills to waste away to draw upon the stallion’s protective instincts, going so far as to act clumsier than normal as of late. It was a gamble; hunting had been the only mode of offense he possessed considering his horns and spines were ill-positioned to use as weapons, and his actions might do more to rouse suspicions than to quench it. The reward that came with the risk thus far had been worth it, but for how long? He hoped to never find out.

“Greetings! Cute, uh, little... boy you have there!” he called, figuring Mest’s glare was not like to feel welcoming to these folk. The fact that he did not address the foals at all spoke volumes when it came to his opinion regarding them. They were no ferals like Growl had been, but their ways were still so alien to him it was difficult for him to consider them people until they came of age.

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Bitey was taken aback by her reception. She wriggled her snout and looked up at her father, but nothing was amiss. Feeling hopeful, she followed after the energetic foal, her timid steps quickly transitioning into a canter. She stood out most of the lot, but for a different reason this time: both the others were winged Usdias, and she easily towered over them both despite her youth. She laid down.

“I’m Bitey!” she said, following after Mal. “I have a longer name, but this one’s easier to remember!”

The lechuga did not escape her notice and she squirmed, wondering if she should mention it was hers, or if I would be too rude to do so now. She had been the one to send it rolling, after all. Did “finders keepers” apply in this scenario?

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Jin was relieved to see his little girl accepted so easily – by the other foals, at least. A quirked brow was his reply to the red stallion’s stare and then misclassification, but though the kalona-hybrid seemed crude and the draft frigid, neither appeared dangerous. Or perhaps that was just his prejudice speaking: he could not imagine the caretakers of such a tiny Usdia foal to be truly evil. Previous experience told him he could be sorely mistaken, and that it would be in his best interest to keep up his guard, but he could still attempt friendly talk at least.

“This is my daughter, Bitey, and I'm Jin,” he introduced, before tilting his head in Anchovy’s direction. “She’s very friendly. Is she yours?” He looked from one stallion to the other, legitimate curiosity mingled with confusion. Everything about the filly advertised her connection to the adult stallions, but what relationship they had he could not fathom. Both adults were males, and they could potentially have been relatives – siblings, perhaps – with one being the father, were it not for the fact that the filly was a Usdia. Had her appearance been a stroke of luck? Or something more? As Bitey and her brother’s features showed, much mystery and magic appeared to affect the children of this land. Even the colt’s horns seemed to pulsate with a faint glow, but he refrained from introducing himself and bringing them to attention – for now, at least – knowing that children had a tendency to be interested more in one another than in adults. Still, he kept an eye out – especially for signs of the foal’s guardian.

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“I will!” Anchovy called over her shoulder, though her thrashing tail and wriggling body suggested at an energy that would be difficult to tone down.

“Everyone calls me Anchovy,” she said, returning her attention to the nearby foals. She lowered her voice to a conspiratory whisper, “But my true name... is Star. Dark Star.” Yeah, that would definitely one-up Bitey’s “longer name” fiasco.

Noticing the other filly's stare, she looked down at the lettuce between her feet. “Did you guys want some?”