[PRP] Taking Flight (Eltanin Draconis & Quetzal)

[BelaLucina]

This is a PRP for Eltanin and Quetzal.

 

[BelaLucina]

It was a relief to come into the clearing after wandering in the forest all morning. The sun felt amazing on his back and Eltanin stretched out all four of his wings as to absorb even more of it. As many vampyric tendencies as he might have, avoidance of the sun was not one of them; he hated being cold. However, the cold, dark forest was ideal for hunting and so he lurked there as often as he needed. Today though, it was warmer than it had been since the frost started coming to the land. He knew it would probably be cold again tomorrow and so he wanted to take advantage of this day. He hadn't searched the skies in a while. He looked up, high above the tops of the trees, and gazed at the mountains. It would be cold up there, but beyond the mountains was the desert. He wondered how long he could survive out there without food, or if it would be just as cold out there as it was in the forest.

In front of him, about 100 yards out, was a river. He could fly over the river and explore the plains beyond, or head west and sail over the sea. He wasn't sure what lay beyond the sea. He was certain that it would be deadly to try and fly over the ocean, as he had no idea how wide it was. He would tire out before reaching the other side.

The snow on the mountain tops was not inviting, and so Eltanin headed towards the river. Before setting off across it, he leaned down to take a long drink. Water was necessary to stay hydrated, even though it wasn't as good as blood; his body still needed it. After drinking Eltanin looked out at the plains and sighed. He wasn't too hopeful about finding anything today. He wasn't even sure if his sister was still alive. But he had found no traces of her, living or dead, and so he kept looking. It was beginning to get dull on his own, so as many times as he felt like giving up, he reminded himself that he would remain alone until he found her.

It was time to keep searching. Determined, he spread his wings and readied himself to take flight.

Uta

Just quoting in case you missed it ^^

 

[Uta]

BelaLucina

Sorry for the delay! :3 And sorry that Quetzal's a bit of a hot mess, haha. . . I guess when you're a mutant-panda-angeni-hippo'gryph you're bound to be a little out of sorts.

Quetzal had found herself further north than she had anticipated -- she was unaccustomed to the frigid snow and cold air that came during winter. The frosts that coated the earth and kept her a bit uncomfortable during the night hours had surprised the rainbow mare; her lace did little to keep her warm, but for once she was grateful for her mess of ebony hair and her peculiar rainbow wings. The snow itself was pretty, but she heard rumor of blizzards and white outs, and was making her way south to warmer climates. At least, she thought she was heading in the right direction -- she wasn't exactly a hardy adventurer, despite being a wanderer all her life. It was easy to get turned around, but getting out of the mountains was a good start.

Oh, but the foothills and flatter terrain that spread out before her was a glorious sight to see! The sunshine was warm upon her back, and so it was, the mare braced herself to land. As pleasant as the sun was this day, the blue eyed mare was even more thrilled to spot a river! It didn't look iced over, unlike some of the rivers higher in the mountains she had just left, and that alone demanded she stop to drink. Th downside, though, were that her wings were tired from flying all night, and Quetzal had never been taught to fly by anything other than experience and instinct. Landings were always rough.

So it was, the mare tried her best to slow her descent, to circle over the water, and to backwing when appropriate. Unfortunately, she realized too late there was someone drinking not far, which meant she had an audience! Embarrassment and a twinge of anxiety caught the mare by surprise, which meant her landing was anything but graceful. She managed to keep to her claws, but it did require her to turn her land into a bit of a trot to stay balanced, and a little wild flapping of her rainbow wings.

Trying her best to ignore her self-consciousness, glad she could be mostly hidden behind her mess of hair and her lace mask, the clawed mare finally turned back to where the water (and stranger) waited. "I think I need more practice," she explained with a little self-deprecating laugh, her odd panda ears flattening ever so briefly. She smiled at the stranger all the same, but upon her approach to the bank, was quick to lower her head drink.

Oh. . . she was always a bit of a mess no matter what she did, wasn't she? It was the story of her life, and the poor, peculiar-looking mare was ever aware of it. Hopefully she hadn't looked as foolish in her landing as she currently felt.
 

[BelaLucina]

Uta

Haha no problem! She sounds fun!

Just as he was readying himself for flight, he noticed something coming towards him from the mountains. At first, he thought it was just a rainbow, but then he realized that it couldn't have been, as it was much smaller than a rainbow and was definitely moving in his direction. After a minute or two, he realized it was a mare with brilliant rainbow wings. Her long hair flowed elegantly behind her and Eltanin was glad to see that she was getting ready to land by the river.

Her landing however, was not very elegant. The mare seemed taken by surprise at the sight of him and her wings flapped wildly as she tried to slow down. She was an angeni he noticed, like him, or at least half of him, but there was something curious about her. She had clawed feet. That definitely didn't help out in a landing he thought.

Eltanin couldn't hold back his chuckle. The mare seemed nice enough, but she was clearly a little embarrassed. Eltanin always enjoyed a bit of brief conversation even though no one ever really stuck around, and so he approached her, smiling and trying to hide his fangs as best he could.

"That was quite the landing," he mused. "Practice does make perfect," he added. "Although I can't imagine it being easy with those clawed feet of yours."

As he approached her he did what he always did when meeting someone new: tried to catch their scent. He took a deep breath, nothing the scent of her hair, feathers, and blood. She smelled slightly of the mountains, and realized this must have been where she had just come from. He wondered briefly if she'd spotted any other winged soquili up there.

"My name's Eltanin," he said politely. "Seen anything interesting up in the mountains?" he wondered aloud. Perhaps a winged mare like her could aid him in his search...

 

[Uta]

BelaLucina

The dark haired, rainbow winged mare gave a little self-deprecating laugh, and allowed her rainbow head-feathers to flap a little. Thankfully, this stallion didn't seem particularly judgmental, and she of all people could appreciate it! Now that he was approaching, her glowing blue eyes studied his form and figure -- he was certainly of kalona blood, if those leather wings and that spaded tail said anything -- and yet . . .there were angeni wings! Angenin wings that weren't quite as ungainly as her own, and little head and foot feathers, too! A cross-breed, to be sure, but quite unlike anything she had ever witnessed. Thankfully, though, he didn't seem at all unfriendly, an Quetzal wasn't in the habit of keeping others at arms length. Perhaps she was foolish, but the large, bumbling mare rather understood that very few people took her seriously. She wasn't quite pretty enough to draw anothers eye, but she was strange enough to have anybody stare. Thankfully, predators left her alone -- she was large, and looked larger with flared rainbow wings, and from her claws, glowing eyes, and her strange ears, it was often enough to keep anything from messing with her.

No, Quetzal was not some dramatic damsel. Even if, deep down, a small part of wished she might have better looked the part. Less like a mess, and more . . . well. . . normal.

Ah well.

Now was not the time to think about her peculiarities. It was just nice, refreshing even, to meet another that looked (in her opinion) just a little mix-matched himself. It was a lovely change, and she hoped he wasn't about to ask what she was.

Hell if she knew.

"Oh, yes, the . . .the claws are a little bit difficult to manage sometimes. I've broken more nails than you can imagine!" She suffered hoof envy, but that was no surprise. Nobody understood how troublesome claws could be! "They serve their purpose though." When it came to hunting, or fishing, she was more than a natural predator. Unfortunately, that wasn't exactly the first thing fellow soquili wanted to hear about, or be reminded of, so she was quick to explain. "Find a large enough tree and I can climb it, though I look a little silly in the process."

Giving a little bit of a bow -- she was sure she looked awkward with that mess of wind blown mane and a tangled ribbon -- Quetzal was glad for the break in conversation. It gave her just enough of a breather to recompose herself, and to try to keep herself from rambling on like a silly fool. She was silly enough in appearances alone -- she didn't need to ruin a perfectly good encounter with a rambling tongue. "It's nice to meet you, Eltanin. I'm Quetzal," she all but whistled, the harpy blood in her clearly strong if her accent and natural whistles and warbles within her speech were any indication. "I . . .well. . . Not really? I mean, I suppose it depends on your definition of interesting?" She tilted her head and gave her wings a little stretch. "Lots of trees. Stone. A few waterfalls not yet frozen, lots of snow and clouds. Lots of starlight. . . any of that suit your style of interesting?" She questioned with a smile.

 

[BelaLucina]

Uta

Eltanin listened to the mare with casual interest. He tried to imagine her climbing trees and the idea was indeed silly.

"Why would you need to climb trees if you have wings?" he wondered.

Then as he thought of the other purposes claws could serve, he became a little jealous. He had sharp teeth for puncturing and tearing flesh, but he was sure he could do a lot more with claws.

"I'm sure they come in handy for hunting. If you do that sort of thing." He knew not all soquili ate meat, but he couldn't tell whether she did or not. She did have a different accent than he was used to hearing so he had to wonder a little bit. Most horses just at grass and apples and stuff, but no thanks, not for him. Although, he did enjoy the occasional strawberry every now and then when they were in season. Perhaps the juicy red color reminded him a little of blood.

The topic of the mountains brought his thoughts back to his sister, but none of the things Quetzal had mentioned seeing were in the least bit interesting. He sighed.

"I'm looking for someone," he told her. "My sister. I wondered whether she might be up in the mountains or not, but..." He gazed towards the mountains thoughtfully, then shifted his gaze to the plains beyond the river. He had chosen to search there. "But it's cold in the mountains. I doubt she'd be there."

He was starting to loose hope again and just like that the feelings of uselessness settled in. He mentally debated giving up his search altogether today. With a snort he tucked his wings in to his side and laid down on the ground next to the river and the rainbow mare. "Why bother..." he huffed.

He had been so determined only a moment ago, but the idea of more fruitless searching was not appealing. He suddenly found himself wanting to just lie there in the grass and listen to Quetzal talk. She had quite a nice accent he thought. It was kind of like music in a way. He had only just met her, but maybe he could get her to sympathize with him. He looked up at her with searching eyes and asked, "Do you have any family, Quetzal?"

 

[Uta]

BelaLucina

And I'm sorry for the super slowness of this tag. xD

Quetzal listened to the stranger question why she might need to climb. The mare was thoughtful for a moment, having never really considered why she had to climb; it was just something she could do, and while she didn't do it often, it did have its uses. The mare gave a little a laugh again, along with a shrug of her shoulders. "There are some forests out there that make flight near impossible; it's nice to have the option to climb into a tree if I cannot spread wings wide enough to fly. It's also nice when the wings are sore or molting, to know I can still get to higher ground if necessary. I suppose it's rare enough to see a soquili in a tree but it made for good security when I was young." Not to mention all the things she could do with her claws in case danger got too close. Again,, it wasn't something she wanted to share. She wasn't a monster, even if she looked a mess.

Thankfully, she didn't have to share it. The stranger guessed it, though she supposed it wasn't too far to ponder. "Well, I ... I do, and it is quite true they come in handy for such a thing. Vegetables and fruits alone aren't enough, so I have to supplement my diet with something a bit more . ..gamey. Fish, mostly, but redder meat too, when the opportunity presents itself." Well, there, he knew her little secret, though she supposed it wasn't the most horrible thing.

Thankfully, Eltanin didn't seem to mind. At least, she hoped he didn't mind. He did have kalona in him, after all, that was something.

Their conversation had been going pleasantly enough until the stallion confessed his true purpose. He was looking for someone! Idle chit-chat concerning her eating habits were quickly swept aside, and her rainbow head wings flared in a moments concern. The stallion did indeed look quite the poor sight, curling up by the river, questioning whether or not she had family.

"Oh, oh dear. I'm afraid the mountains are seemingly endless, from what I saw," she confessed, dipping her head in discouragement. "They were large, difficult to travel through, and harder still to find others; they say there are some herds that live within the mountain peaks, but either they were hidden, or I simply overlooked them all." Ah, but the stallion seemed so distressed, or at least discouraged. That would never do!

Giving a small, encouraging whistle, the mare shook her head. "You bother because, unless I'm quite mistaken, you care. Or at least, you have good need to find her. Do you truly have no leads on where she might have gone?" She asked, glancing away from the stallion to look back up at the mountains that loomed before them. A soquili could get lost up in those hills. "Do you also think she wants to be found?"

Ah, but perhaps it wasn't her place to ask. "I . . . I have no family, I'm afraid," she crooned softly, though her strange ears flattened in a moments sadness. "My shadow is the closest thing I have to family, though its quite clear I've some mother and father out there. Or did." She kept her smile as vibrant as ever, trying no to feel the reminder of just how alone she really was. She wanted a nest all her own, a family, a mate, all the things that everyone else seemed to have. . . .

Everyone but her.

Ah, but it didn't matter. She was too much a mess to catch anyone's eye. Not quite angeni, not quite hippo'gryph, not quite anything easily placed in the Kawani. Too much hair, too much rainbow, a hodge-podge of peculiarity. Good for a passing moment, but never quite good enough to find companions whom wished to stay.

"When did you last see your sister, if you don't mind me asking?"