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 Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2014 11:21 am
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"Hippo it is, then, because short names are perfect for friends, and we are SO going to be friends." Sibbi returned Hippo's grin with a wide one of her own, accompanying the grin with an emphatic nod of her head. If she wasn't lying down in the water, she would have been tempted to caper about, she was so pleased with how this meeting was turning out! But she was enjoying the chance to converse with a seathi 'face to face,' as it were, and she felt no need to change those circumstances. If a Kelpi was going to pop out of the water, she'd be able to see him just as well from in the water as out!
"You're a very smart, reasonable fellow, Hippo; I think we might as well enjoy our little meeting and just let the Kelpi do what they will. I mean, until just now I didn't even know you existed, so why would I want to wish you away, you know? There will be time for Kelpis later," She added, settling herself down a bit more comfortably into the sand. "So...you're doing a really nice thing, answering my questions; can I answer any for you?"
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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2014 11:52 am
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As Hippo suddenly swam off and dove down beneath the surface, Sibbi watched him with rapt attention. Just because she’d never known that such a thing as Seathi existed didn’t mean she couldn’t find them fascinating, and Hippo’s presence was proving a great opportunity to familiarize herself with the species. Or race? Or was it breed? She’d never really been clear on the different ‘classifications’ of Soquili, other than knowing some could swim, some could fly, and some…well, some were stuck just walking. Her oldest sister, who wasn’t her born sister or her ‘wished’ sister but her sister because she had been adopted by Sibbi’s papa, was one such Soquili; she had no wings or fins or anything, other than legs. Sibbi herself felt that it would be a sad existence to have just legs; with wings, she could pretty much go anywhere she wanted! Nothing was impassable;’ she could fly over water, or mountains, or even big canyons in the ground. Plus flying was sooooo much faster…
But Saiena had always seemed content to have just legs, and Sibbi had to admit she’d never seen anyone who could run like her sister! Obviously everyone was born with the things they needed to make the most of themselves in life, whether legs or wings…or fins!
She was fascinated, watching the flip of Hippo’s fishy tail as he ducked down under the water. It was all so easy for him; if she were to try to move like that, she’s be awkward and ungainly as all get out, with wild splashing and a ton of noise to draw attention to herself! Though obviously he wasn’t against making noise himself, she had to note as Hippo erupted back to the surface amidst a large splash of water that briefly washed over Sibbi’s own head. “Ha, you sure can swim like a…well, like a seathi, can’t you,” she asked with a grin as he came swimming back over to her. “I wish I could swim like that, though I guess it would be hard if I had to choose between swimming or flying, you know?”
She was glad when he took her up on her offer to ask questions; it made her feel a lot better asking so many questions herself! “Yes, Kelpis can wait, I’m sure. After all, it’s not every day I get to swap info with a Seathi, especially a Seathi so polite and accommodating as you. And those are good questions, she said with a bright, beaming smile. “Flying is like…well, in some ways, it’s kinda like swimming, I guess? Only for me, flying is a lot easier, and more graceful. But they both are like…floating? Because I’m not using my legs to hold up my weight, you see, so it’s like my body is a lot lighter when I’m flying, just like when I’m swimming. But it’s still pretty hard work sometimes, because I have to rely on my wings and they hare the job of carrying me when I fly, while the water is doing all the work when I’m swimming. And you can see the whole world down below when you fly, which is amazing! It kinda reminds me of swimming in really clear water, when you can look way down and see the plants and things down at the bottom.” Though if she was being honest, seeing things from the air was much, much easier!
Walking was a lot harder to explain, though, particularly as she surveyed Hippo’s fishy back end. “Um…walking…walking is harder to explain. Do you ever lean up on your front legs?”
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2014 11:40 am
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Hippo leaned closer to her, listening with his mouth agape. He found all these things rather fascinating. It wasn't everyday he was able to talk to someone about what it was to fly, or be up on land. The Kelpie were never really too terrible forward with their own views. Or at least not the ones that he met. He was sure that there were nice ones. Just like there were nice land based Soquili like Sibbi! Sibbi was certainly a sweet girl just to give him any time of day. He could only imagine how hard it must be for her to explain anything to him... Though... He figured that maybe it would be the same kind of difficulty that he would have in order to explain swimming. He can only imagine what swimming would be like to someone who was stuck on land all the time. And he would never be able to truly grasp what it was like to walk on land. To feel all the dirt and grass under his hooves...
"I can only imagine that flying would be a lot like swimming. But instead of being surrounded by the heavy water, you are surrounded by the light air." He looked up at her, a glint in his eye. "I think it would be amazing to be able to swim in the air. The closest that I can get to flying is jumping up out of the water." He giggled a bit, "To which I actually can't jump very high being as small as I am. Not as high as I've seen some Mer jump... They can get some amazing lift..."
He listened to her as she asked him about his own front legs, figuring she must be thinking of some way for Hippo to actually understand what it was like to actually stand on land. Something he was sure he would never truly understand, but would always find amazing.
"Sometimes I lean up on them... It makes it a bit easier if I feel like sunning myself a little." He smiled up at her, waiting for the rest of her explanation with baited breath.
As he thought about it a bit more, waiting for her response, he looked up onto the beach. Seeing all the pretty shells that were sitting up there. Just waiting for a land walker to pick them up. He saw these shells in the water with the creatures themselves living in them. He saw them when they were still full and had some weight to them. Then he looked further up onto the land. There were trees up there. He knew that they were called trees simply from stories he had heard from ones who CAN go up and see them. From the ones who have touched them themselves. He wondered to himself what kind of creatures could possibly live in those trees. What other kinds of places were there in the world? What other kinds of creatures lived in those places? Or even, for that matter, what other kinds of Soquili were there in the world. Being in the water was certainly no place for Hippo to find the answers to these questions. The questions that he felt needed answering. There was no way for him to ever obtain these answers. And though that made his heart a bit sad, he could certainly ask Sibbi what she knew about these things. Perhaps she would make a monthly visit to see him? To show him the things that she has found? Even just telling him about the different creatures she got to see would be an amazing thing. As he thought on it more, maybe he would meet more land based creatures if he simply stayed by the beach more? That would be a wonderful thing indeed...
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Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2014 5:50 pm
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It was funny, just how much truth there was in the phrase 'the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.' Obviously there had to be a reason that a saying became a cliche, but really, that one was 'true!' Like, super duper true. If Sibbi had had any inkling that Hippo was thinking about the marvelous of land life, she would have been shocked; why would anyone want to see the land when the ocean was so much more fascinating? There were kelp forests, and fascinating sea creatures who looked like plants; creatures who carried their homes around on their backs, or ate by letting the water bring food right to them. There were corals, and anemones, and things that she didn't even know existed. How could someone who had access to all of that care about the drab, dry, boring life of a land dweller?
But she could understand him liking to sun; there were few things as pleasant as the sensation of sunlight on the body after a nice, long swim! In fact, Sibbi's favorite post-soak activity was sunbathing, particularly if there was a nice flat rock available. Her hair was bad enough, but her wings...sea creatures were not meant to have wings, unless they were a flying fish! But she'd found that fanning them out and exposing them to the sunlight was a good way to speed up the drying process, thus allowing her to get back to...well, get back to whatever! Honestly, there were few things as important to Sibbi as her aquatic pursuits, so she was rarely in a rush to get anywhere after a swim.
It was just really, really unpleasant being damp. That, and her familiar Medina tended to make snarky comments about her being bedraggled. Sibbi didn't care so much about actually being bedraggled, but having it commented on was a bit annoying.
"So, you can do a bit of walking, at least with your front legs? Do you more stand on them, or do you use them to pull yourself along, kinda like a crab?" She'd seen enough crabs walking along the sand that she felt this was a reasonable comparison; they had a bit of a hitch/dragging motion going on that was fascinating and awkward all at same time. With Hippo's strong tail, she could see him actually balancing on it...for a little while, at least. "Do you actually get use out of your hooves? Are they a foot thing on you, or do you use them more like tools? Like, to crack open clams and things? Or do you actually even eat clams? Can you eat clams? Is that a meat eater thing, like if I was to eat a rabbit? Because I couldn't eat a rabbit, in either the literal or figurative sense. The very idea of meat makes me gag."
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2014 4:48 pm
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If Hippocampus could truly hear her thoughts, he would certainly be confused by her not understanding. The world above was so much more vast than the world below the water. The terrain, though colorful, was only so different. Once you've seen one coral laden with colorful fish, you have pretty much seen them all. The only thing that brings any difference to the water scape is when someone from above drops something in the water. He always did enjoy finding things from the surface world. Always wondered what each thing was used for. Always wondered if they were something important to someone on the surface. Naturally there was no way for him to ever ask anyone if they were important to them. By the time he found these things the owners were always long gone. He doubted if any of them knew that they left these things behind in the water. That some little seahorse had found them and was now enjoying them himself. He shook his head a bit.
He smiled at her a bit. This mare certainly had more in common with himself than he could ever have thought. They both longed for something more. Something that was far out of their reach. He would never be able to walk out on dry land and she would never be able to enjoy the true depths of the ocean. Though they could talk to each other about it. Talking was a good way to learn more. To try and understand about the others world. It's always a nice thing.
Hippo giggled a bit at the question, "No, just use them to help swim around in the water a bit. I've honestly never tried to walk around like a crab before though! I bet that would be a fun use of my legs!" He puffed up a bit and scooted in the shallows with his front legs. Coming close to a rock, he decided it was time to scoot back the other way toward his friend again.
Coming to a stop near her, he looked up and smiled. "It works alright! I really wasn't expecting it to work so well! It'll be a good idea to try and use in the shallows." He giggled.
Hippo thought on it for a few moments. "I eat fish and crabs sometimes... I can't imagine it would be the same as a rabbit." He looked at her, "The fish taste rather sweet though! Hooves don't really work well to catch them... But you are right about using hooves to crack open clams and such! They are nice and hard, then with the sharp end on the hoof, you can spring them open! But I eat plenty of kelp and seaweed as well. Need vegetables after all!" He smiled at her broadly.
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 12:43 pm
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Watching her new little friend crabwalk his way along in the shallow water, Sibbi couldn't help but giggle. He just looked so happy, she thought merrily, his little body scooting along in the water like...well, like a crab! She'd spent lots of time over the course of her life lying in the sand watching crabs walk; her favorites were the little hermit crabs who seemed to spend their lives in a perpetual hunt for the biggest and best shell. Hippo was a bit like a hermit crab, his finny body being the shell and his sturdy little front legs being the crab part. The only main difference she could see was that Hippo was a lot squishier than any crab, and he looked a lot more cheerful!
She'd never once seen a crab smile, in spite of her best efforts to provoke one. Obviously they couldn't smile, because there was no way any living creature could resist HER efforts at good cheer!
And Hippo was the epitome of good cheer, both creating and receiving it! She was glad they'd crossed paths today; not only was he something new and interesting, he was informative and fun in his own right. She'd originally been fascinated by his sea-going ways, but having spent this much time talking to him, she was sure that she would have hit it off with him no matter what; even if he was a wind like her, she would have liked him!
That being said, she was still really glad he was a Seathi. "You do that crab-walk thing amazingly well, Hippo; you should definitely practice that more and who knows? Maybe you'll be able to come visit me on the land soon at this rate." Grinning, she stood up and shook off some of the water before climbing up onto the rock herself, spreading her wings to allow them to dry out.
As she shook herself off, she listened with interest to his commentary about food. He wasn't much help in the comparison field, but she was extremely fascinated at his description of the taste. "That's cool that you're able to do that, Hippo, but I don't think I could bring myself to eat another animal. Even something as non-animal as a clam," she added with a grin. "I mean, even a clam could be someone's familiar, right? No, animal eating is just not my thing, but I'm glad you're able to manage. In it's own way, it seems like your diet is a watery version of my diet; you have your clams and kelp and seaweed, and I have my grass and apples and the occasional clover. It's a good system, even if mine is less slimy."
And she was ok with that; there was one thing she didn't crave experiencing from the watery world, and that was the food!
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Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2015 5:39 pm
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Hippo smiled and looked up at Sibbi. He had certainly made up his mind by then that he liked this mare a lot! She was so happy and attentive to what he was saying to her. It was certainly something he appreciated in a conversation partner! He hoped that she thought he was being just as attentive to her own thoughts and feelings about everything! Cause he respected her opinions about everything for sure. And he wanted to learn more about her opinions as well. He was sure that she must know a lot of the world itself. Being able to go out into the large wide open spaces of air... He wondered if she collected anything. It would be interesting for sure. Maybe she liked things like seashells? But something more akin to seashells out of the water? He wasn't sure what that something would be. Rocks maybe? Or maybe those leaf things that he's heard of before. Or even the flower things! He wished he could see those flower things. He's heard from others that they are very pretty. The only thing that they have in the ocean are corals. Which are certainly colorful, but he wasn't sure that they bloomed the way that it's said flowers do. He tilted his head a bit as he thought on this.
Then, clearing his throat, he smiled to speak again. "I can certainly understand where you would think it weird that we eat other creatures. Most don't... but there is a good amount of protein and what have you in the fish. So it's good for us to eat it." He looked up to the sky for a moment, "And we don't eat it too terribly often. A few times a week I think. Too much of something like that is never really a good thing after all."
Hippo stared at her a bit when she mentioned that it could be someones familiar. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone with a clam familiar before... And I've met a lot of clams. Not just the ones I've eaten for dinner, of course. They also have these pretty things in their mouths sometimes and I like looking at them as they open and close. I sometimes actually grab those ones to make for a dinner. Then I keep the shiny little balls in a jar in my seashell room!" He smiled widely at the mare, "Maybe I'll have to show them to you sometime! They catch the light beautifully and sparkle out lots of colors. Certainly nice to look at. I would even let you keep one if you would like!" He giggled a bit and hoped that she would appreciate such a thing, even if it did come from another animal.
"I think I would like to see what one of your meals looks like. Maybe try a bit of it and see if I like it at all? You know what I eat after all... But I've never seen the things that you speak of! And I understand you not wanting to try out my food though." He flapped his tail about, "And you don't notice the slime when you are eating it under the water. Just when the fish is out on land. We mostly crack the shells on rocks on the surface actually. It's a bit easier that way." He swam around the rock she was laying on, admiring her outstretched wings.
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Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2015 2:47 pm
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"Hrm...well, I think we'll just have to agree to disagree on the meat thing, Hippo; I mean, I guess I understand you need a lot of energy to swim around and whatnot, but it just seems...well, not right to me. But I'm not going to jump off this rock and beat you until you promise to stop, or anything like that," Sibbi said with a bright peal of laughter. The very idea of her being so aggressive was downright laughable; even when she was upset about something, she had never been a violent mare. At most, she would raise her voice and argue her opinion; even that was a rarity, because she was such a good-natured mare. So even though she thought it was cruel and mean to eat another animal, she wasn't going to drive a wedge between herself and her new friend!
Though the 'shiny little balls' Hippo was talking about intrigued her, even if she didn't like the idea of how he got them. Shiny and sparkly and light catching? She'd seen rocks that had similar properties; some exposed rocks faces had little glittery flecks in them that shone in the sun, and sometimes she'd find a rock in one of the rivers that had a polished gleam to it. "I think I'd love to see one of those shiny balls, Hippo; I've never heard of anything like that coming out of an animal, or being part of an animal, but it sounds interesting! I've only ever seen rocks that did that." She paused, considering for a moment, before she tilted her head back to the side. "Do you think the clams ate rocks?"
But she was redirected from that school of thought by his comment about one of her meals. That was something she could actually do! "Oh, I know! When my wings dry out, I can go get you some things to try! There is an apple tree I passed on the way here, and there's grass everywhere. And then I can bring some of each back here!" What an awesome idea, sharing a meal together!
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Posted: Mon May 04, 2015 9:44 am
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Hippo nodded, "Of course! I would never expect you to change your ways because of me, I assure you. I was just thinking out loud I think." He laughed a bit, "I mean, not matter what the substance, if one doesn't like it, it doesn't matter what's inside it or how good it is for you." Tilting his head a bit, an interesting thought came to mind. "What kind of food do you like? Are there things that you eat less often than others? Or things that you consider a treat? We don't have much in the way of treats ourselves..." He thought on the rather bland seaweed he ate day to day. There was nothing amazing or delicious about that. Sometimes there were some lily pads that sprouted up. Those weren't so bad and they floated on the surface, so they were rather fun to try and gather. They certainly dressed up the seaweed though!
He smiled at Sibbi as she spoke of her interest in the shiny little balls. It would be exciting to show her one, he was sure! Maybe he would be able to find one now? Sometimes others left them behind on the beach, not really interested in them. He thought it strange to not want such a pretty little bauble as that, but others thought he was the strange one for collecting so many "useless" items in his cave. It's not like they cluttered up his living space or anything. They all had their own place in their own little cavern. That was certainly the important thing! As long as everything stayed organized, there was really no reason to stop collecting his little baubles. Besides that, he has some things that he found from the surface itself! The others had always been interested in seeing those things. I guess they simply don't care about what comes from their own neighborhood. Which he thought was a shame. There is so much beauty in the waters going unappreciated.
As he finished his thought, he focused on Sibbi again. He had seen rocks as she had described as well. Though these little balls looked far from rocks, then he heard her question, "I'm actually not sure about that one! I don't think I've ever seen them eat any rocks. But then again, I've never seen one eat? I don't think I have." He tapped his chin, "How would one go about eating rocks do you think? I would think it would be a pretty difficult meal to swallow, what about you?" He giggled a bit as he faced her again.
Hippo hopped up and down, excited about the chance to eat some food from up above. "That sounds like a WONDERFUL plan! Would you like to try anything from down here? We have a couple different kinds of seaweed. I think they would be similar to grass in that there is a lot of it?" He smiled wider, "And while you are away getting those things, I'll be able to go and grab you some of those little balls from my cave too! Maybe a couple of seashells I know you would like..." He smiled and wiggled about. This plan sounded like so much fun!
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