[PRP] They're Real! (Sibbi and Hippocampus)

[Cajmera]

 

[Cajmera]

It was a a gorgeous day to be at the beach. The sun was shining, a cool breeze was blowing; the sand was warm and bright underfoot. And ahead, extending forward as far as the eye could see....the ocean.

Sibbi heaved a gusty sigh of pure pleasure. It was all so perfect; the sand, the surf, the sky. She'd been to the ocean numerous times since reaching adulthood, and it always had the same effect on her. Her parents liked to tease her that she had been sent to the wrong set of parents; that rather than the child of winds, she was meant to be the child of kelpis. Sibbi had always laughed at their jokes, fluttering her wind wings in their face to remind them just how well suited she was for the parents she'd gotten. But sometimes...

"Ah..." Once again, she breathed in the salty ocean air, reveling in the taste and the sensation. Walking forward, she waded out into the water until the waves were hitting just above her knees. Even the water was perfect today!

~Twilight...Angel~

Sorry about the slow start; I wasn't really sure how to set things.

 

[~Twilight...Angel~]

Hippocampus was just swimming around a bit, deciding to pop up near shore for a bit. There were usually interesting shells closer to the beach anyway. He needed some new ones to update his collection a bit.

As he came closer, the water got a bit warmer. It was always amazing to him how much the sun seemed to warm the water further up. It was a rather nice change from the waters he was used to down below. Coming closer to the beach, he saw some legs! He had only seen land dwelling Soquili from a good distance away. Was always curious about them though.

Coming right up to the legs, he brushed up against them a bit, just trying to inspect what could possibly be attached to them!

Cajmera

 

[Cajmera]

Sibbi had been looking out towards the horizon, enjoying the setting as a whole. It hadn't even crossed her mind to look down at the water by her feet; her distraction, paired with the motion of the waves, meant that the little green and black seathi was able to get right up to her and brush against her before she even noticed he was there. However, she'd spent enough time in and around water to have a very definite reaction when something unexpected touched her...

"Yeep!" Squealing, Sibbi jumped straight up and backwards, putting some distance between herself and the Unknown Sea Creature. However, once she'd landed, she found her attention zeroing in on the creature with rapt fascination. What on earth...was that a...what?

Her eyes widening, Sibbi took a tentative step forward. "Oh my gosh, are you a...mer?"

~Twilight...Angel~

 

[~Twilight...Angel~]

Hippocampus was startled as he, in turn, scared the other back. He hadn't expected the legs to suddenly jump back when he touched them. Spooked, he swam back as fast as he could. He couldn't believe that the legs would move like that on him!

As they came back into the water a bit, he came toward them again. Seeing someone looking right at him. Then he heard a noise... He couldn't hear it very well. So he came up and poked his head out of the water, looking at the MUCH bigger Soquili in front of him.

"Did you say something?" He looked at her with new fascination.

Cajmera

 

[Cajmera]

If there had been any casual observers around, they likely would have been hard-pressed to hold in their laughter. If Sibbi herself had been one of the observers, she wouldn't even be trying; the scene was too absurd for that, with mare and seathi each scaring the bejeebers out of each other!

Fortunately, that scaredy-ness was short lived. What Sibbi had first guessed with amazement to be a mer had once again approached her, then poked its head up out of the water, exposing a distinctly equine head. Yes, it was a small head, but it was still a Soquili head, just liked hers. But below that head...

He had a fish tail! He had an honest-to-goodness, actual fish tail! This was no kelpi; she'd heard a lot about kelpis, though she'd never seen one. She knew they had fish tails instead of hair tails, but they also had four normal Soquili legs and were essentially shaped like a Soquili. Mers, on the other hand, were entirely aquatic and were half fish!

She didn't know they were so small, though. He was downright tiny compared to Sibbi, and she was no giant. Were all mers that small? Or maybe he was a young one?

Emboldened, Sibbi stepped closer to the little mer. "I asked if you were a mer. But you are, aren't you? I mean, you have the body like I heard mers have...are you a mer? A real one?" She didn't even try to hide the excited curiosity in her voice; this was HUGE!

~Twilight...Angel~

 

[~Twilight...Angel~]

Hippocampus watched the other come closer to him again. It was weird seeing something with four legs. He rather enjoyed seeing the four legs. Different from what he was used to seeing. Stranger still were the huge amounts of feathers coming out of her sides. He had heard they were called something like... Wings? That seemed to be the right word. Though he hadn't seen many things with them. A small statue here and there, but nothing large to suggest what these wings even fully looked like. He decided that he liked them.

Concentrating on what the other was saying again, he caught her question. "I'm not a mer per say... I'm called a Seathie. I guess... I'm a... Mini... Mer?" He thought that it was a good thing to call himself. His kind looked a lot like mers. Mostly with smaller, more curly tails... But pretty similar still. "I certainly swim along mers. They are nice for the most part." He nodded his head a bit.

Looking up at her again, his mouth opened wide. "What about you? What are those feather things coming out of your sides? Are there holes there?"

Cajmera

 

[Cajmera]

"A seathi." Sibbi rolled the word around in her brain, repeating it again for good measure. "A Seathi?" Nope, not a familiar word; she didn't think she'd ever heard it before. Though since she'd never seen one before, so it made sense that she didn't know what to call one. And surely he would know best what he was called. She was pretty sure it was a 'he', anyway; the voice sounded more masculine than feminine, but she couldn't be sure! "So, you're a Seathi! Are there many like you? I mean, are there lots of Seathi, like there are lots of Mers? Or will you grow up to be a Mer, too?"

She had continued to edge closer to the little stallion, oblivious to the fact that she was also being examined. After all, in her mind she was a very common creature; winds were a dime a dozen in her part of the world! But at his question, she stopped and looked her her sides curiously. "Do you mean my wings?" Pausing, she spread her wings wide so that he could see exactly how they were attached. "They grow there, kinda like legs. Except they're not legs, they're wings."

~Twilight...Angel~

 

[~Twilight...Angel~]

Hippocampus thought on this for a moment. He only knew a few others like himself after all. But he had always assumed that there were many more like him.

He nodded, "There are lots like me. Just as many as Mers I believe." He came closer to her. "I have only met a few myself..."

Coming around to her side, he took a better look at her wings. He had never seen them before after all. He was lucky he even knew what they were. "Those are very interesting. I've never seen anything like them before. Of course, I do live in the water..."

He came back around in front of her again. "What else would you like to know?" He smiled at her while he thought up his own questions.

Cajmera

 

[Cajmera]

So, there were lots of Seathi out there? And yet she'd never seen one, or even heard of their existence until this moment. Sibbi sighed internally, reflecting on how useless wings and lungs could be when it came to underwater exploration. Just imagine what else was out there, under the water beyond her reach! It was frustrating to think that no matter how hard she tried and how much time she spent combing the beaches, there was a whole world she'd never see.

Still, she wasn't about to waste this amazing opportunity pouting! Grinning, she watched the little Seathi make his way around her in the water, noting how his fishy lower body flexed back and forth exactly like a fish, while his front legs seemed to paddle just like her own did when swimming. "I suppose you don't encounter many creatures with wings underwater, just like I don't see many half-fish creatures up on land. It's a bit of a bummer, though; wings are just so...normal where I come from."

She shook her head and made a face at that, only to immediately brighten up at his offer. Wow, what an amazing chance to learn more about her first ever sea-Soquili! Without even needing a moment to consider her questions, she was off and running. "Is it hard for you to breath air? Or are you a natural air breather and just hold your breath underwater. Can you actually talk when you're underwater? And can you understand what is said to you when you're underwater? I can only hear weird burblings when my ears are underwater."

~Twilight...Angel~

 

[~Twilight...Angel~]

Hippo liked this other he decided. Though she seemed a bit... large, she seemed nice enough to him! And she wanted to listen to thing that he could try and tell her about. That was always a plus for him. Telling stories and answering questions was something he had always loved to do for others.

Coming back around the front of her, he rested himself the best he could onto the sand under the water. He didn't want to move around too terribly much, mostly afraid that he might get too tired. Being tuckered out was never fun when one swam around the depths of the water. He listened to her response about her wings, rather awestruck. "No! There are no wings were I am from. We have all fins and hooves in the water." He nodded a bit. "There are some who can walk on the land and swim in the sea. I believe they are called... Kelpie?"

He thought on it a bit, then saw how she perked up and heard her start going a mile a minute with her questions. He really couldn't believe that she needed no thought in what to ask! But was certainly ready to answer her questions anyway.

"It's not hard for me to breath air, no. A bit weird sometimes, but not too hard. Having most of my body in the water certainly helps with that. We all breath underwater perfectly fine, which includes talking underwater." He nodded at her. "We are made to breath and talk underwater, it's easy for us." He giggled a bit. "And I can understand why you wouldn't hear much underwater yourself."

Cajmera

 

[Cajmera]

Hippo looked so comfortable, propping himself up in the water on his forelegs, that Sibbi couldn't resist the impulse to follow suit. Without a care for her wings, or her mane, or her neckerchief, Sibbi flopped down in the water as well, resting her chin on her forelegs as they stuck up out of the water. The waves now covered most of her body, with just her tail and head floating above the surface. Very comfortable!

But, having settled herself down, it was time to focus on the important things. "Oh, I've heard of Kelpi! But I've never seen one of those, either. My Daddy told me stories about Kelpi when I was a foal; that's what first got me interested in you water-dwellers." She shot him a grin, settling further down in the sand to listen as he started in on her questions. "Hrm...obviously that means there's more differences between land dwellers and sea dwellers than I would have thought; you can talk so well in the air, but I can't talk in the water at all. I guess that's the universe's way of trying to keep things balanced, don't you think?"

~Twilight...Angel~

 

[~Twilight...Angel~]

Hippocampus scurried a bit away as the larger Soquili flopped down into the water. She certainly seemed to enjoy where she landed. Of course, he could understand why. He enjoyed being in the water, feeling the waves lap over him. It was always something that was so relaxing and calming, helped him think.

Hippo nodded at Sibbi. "They are certainly an interesting breed. If you stick around you might be able to see one come out of the water here! I see them head to the beach sometimes while I'm gathering treasures for my home."

Hippo thought on it for a moment. "I guess it would be." He nodded. "Though it does make sense. We sea dwellers have to be able to communicate with landers when we need to trade or give important news from the oceans. But you landers can't exactly make it down to our homes, so it would be rather pointless for you to be able to speak underwater." He smiled at her. She was an interesting one to talk to!

Cajmera

 

[Cajmera]

Aha, so there were kelpis lurking around these parts, just as she'd hoped! Sibbi had remained confident through the years that one day, she would see an acquatic; that it was just a matter of being in the right place at the right time. However, as she scoured first the great inland lake and later the surrounding waterways with no luck, she felt even her boundless optimism faltering. It was so wonderful to know that she had been right all along, even if she'd somehow managed to miss seeing any actual water dwellers...until now!

"Very cool; maybe a Kelpi or two will decide to venture out on land while we're here. Wouldn't that be cool..." She trailed off, frowning, as she realized she didn't know what to call her new little friend. She knew WHAT he was, of course, but as far as WHO he was...well, that was up in the air! Realizing that she'd gotten so carried away by her excitement she'd forgotten to make proper introductions, Sibbi couldn't help but laugh. "You know, I don't think I ever asked your actual name. Mine is Sibbi, and it's obviously a great pleasure to meet you!" Manners satisfied, she gave the seathi a cheery little nod. "And you're a very logical fellow!"

~Twilight...Angel~

 

[~Twilight...Angel~]

Hippo nodded at the large mare. He was excited that she seemed so happy about simply meeting him! It wasn't everyday that another was so excited to see him after all. Other Seathie and Mers knew what he was and they each saw plenty like the other all the time. It was nothing new. But to be new and exciting to another was great! He was even happy to see her get so excited at the prospect of seeing Kelpie too. He had seen plenty of them, but could understand how new and exciting it must be for someone who had never seen one before.

"Some Kelpie coming up onto land could happen while we are here. One never knows after all! And I don't pretend to understand how they feel about the world outside." He smiled widely at her and splashed about a bit. Listenting to her introduce herself, he was happy to return the introduction with his own name. "I'm Hippocampus. But you are welcome to call me Hippo for short Sibbi!" He was happy to be able to make a new friend! Even if he would't be able to see her a lot. That was the one sad thing about meeting land dwelers and making friends with them.

Cajmera