[PRP]Curiosity & The Kelpi (Ithillún & Andromeda's Nocturne

[xo maho]

This is a private roleplay between Ithillún (Mahogany Sunset) & Andromeda's Nocturne (Nyx Queen of Darkness).

 

[xo maho]

Ithillún stood watch at the water's edge, standing guard over the river that made the border of the main herdlands to the west. If an enemy approached, it was her job to call for help, and if it came to it - if the herd was at risk - keep the enemy on this side of the river, to keep them out of the herdlands. She was old enough now that such a task was within her abilities, but that did not mean that she had not taken it reluctantly; she had met more than one enemy in her relatively short life. A skinwalker had nearly taken her as a foal, and then another had nearly taken her, along with all her sisters. They were a plague on their lands, and she would not let another enemy pass into their lands - but she was still a prey animal. Putting herself in harms way was against her nature.

Even so, she stood obediently where her father had placed her, in open sight of the whole herdlands, the inhabitants of which watched her back. The forest would have been a much more dangerous place for Lún to keep watch, as she did not have her mother's and her sisters' gifts of extraordinary hearing. The forest could deaden noise, too, and her screams might go unheard and unheeded if she was taken down before she could warn her people. The river also meant that she would stay hydrated, which was a necessity with her leaves and the vines that grew from her; they demanded extra water.

Sighing and shifting, Ithillún resigned herself to a long few hours until the shifts changed once more.

Nyx Queen of Darkness

 

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

Andromeda's Nocturne had decided to go on a little adventure. She had decided to follow the river that fed the sea to it's source. She had told her family of her intentions and had set out without another backward glance. She had inherited her father's sense of wanderlust. The stars and heavens were denied her so she would content herself with wandering about the earth when she felt like it.

Her skin soaked up the water as she walked in the middle of the stream deeper into the tree-y woods and hills. The whole world was alive and different than the area she'd lived all her life. She sloshed her tail in the water splashing as she went.

Ahead she saw what he had thought was a tree turn, it startled her and made her gasp. But she did not balk, but lean closer to see what or who this was.  

[xo maho]

Splash. That was a sound that did not belong in the burbling, tinkling stream, not when she was on watch, unless a Vanara was coming across the stream to relieve her, and it was far too early for that. Turning toward the sound, Ithillún's eyes widened when she realized what she was looking at - a soquili wading in the river.

A soquili with a fish tail.

Immediately, her jaw clamped shut, and she could not call a warning. Gods, Father, next time, leave me to my gardens. She was not going to be any good at guard duty if she could not call out an intruder, as this soquili surely was, strange though she might be.

Silent, Ithillún stared and waited for the mare to balk, as so many often did when she leveled her glowing gaze at them. Please don't talk to me. She knew that she would be unable to talk back, and that shame filtered into her.  

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

Andromeda met the cool stare of what she realized was a mare with wide, pale eyes. She took in the other mare's appearance. Her hair was adorned with flowers and her body with brambles that seemed to grow out from her.

She was in awe of this amazing creature. "You're quite beautiful, absolutely exsquite." She moved closer the mare. "I've never seen anyone like you. You're as pretty as a star." She had been swept away with words and beauty that left her fascinated and flushed. She wanted to know more about the mare but it would be rude to ask.

"I am Andromeda's Nocturne."  

[xo maho]

Blinking at the mare as she spoke, Lún studied her. Her markings were that of a starry sky above a sunset, overlain with some kind of runes, so brightly white that they almost looked to be glowing. Her eyes were the same, the irises near invisible against her sclera; if Lún had not known better, she might have thought this one to be a flying fish that had gotten caught up in the stars on the way down. But no, she was definitely a soquili, for she spoke - and her words were all flattery.

Pressing her lips together, Lún stared harder at the mare who called her as pretty as a star, when it was she who looked like her coat held a thousand of them. Still, the compliments made her lips twitch between a bashful smile and a frown, even though her mind was protesting. Compliments given so readily felt like a trick, but at the same time, the mare looked sincere. And she gave her name, which was a step in the right direction. Still, though, Lún looked on, staring at the stream rushing around the mare's feet and slowly moving up, taking in all the fishy parts of her. Her fins looked delicate, but they also looked torn in places - but at the same time, it was hard to tell if they were meant to be like that, as she had never seen anyone like this mare before. Lún could only imagine how incredibly painful it must be to rip an appendage like that, so thin it was... And she hoped the mare took good care of herself. That tail looked heavy.

Nyx Queen of Darkness

 

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

Tree like skeletal hands touched the other mare's chest. The bright flowers glowed in her hair like the stars she'd likened the mare too. But the mare did not speak, only the corners of her mouth twitched. Andromeda could not tell if it was in amusement or a frown.

Did the mare not welcome strangers? "Do you want me to leave? Am I intruding?" Andromeda asked swishing her tail in the stream. The girl didn't seem particularly friendly, but possibly she was just reserved. "Would you like to tell me your name?"  

[xo maho]

Lún's eyes widened as the mare's tail shifted in the stream, and part of her was afraid it might lash out and spray her - or aim for her legs. It did not move from the bounds of the banks, though, and when the mare (Andromeda's Nocturne, she reminded herself) asked her a question, Lún tilted her head. Did she want her to leave? She wasn't sure... And she wasn't sure that she wanted to tell her her name, either. Surely other herd members would want to meet this mare, who could very well be a river spirit... But it would be rude to treat her as a curiosity. Hesitantly, she shook her head thrice, once for each question. Her mouth still felt clamped shut with uncertainty.

Nyx Queen of Darkness

 

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

Andromeda's Nocturne was left feeling a little baffled. She didn't want her leave and she wasn't intruding. But she didn't want to tell her name. Strange. It was evident that the mare was confused by her, but she couldn't figure out quite-

Oh, well, it could be that couldnt' it? Maybe she hadn't seen a kelp before. Maybe she thought she looked strange or something? She didn't really know. "Have you never seen a kelpi before?" The mare still looked at her with a stunned expression so she carried on. "We have fins. Sometimes tails. We have to have water or our skin dries out badly. We spend a lot of time in water, but not like merponies who stay there all the time. We walk the land and swim the waters."


She wasn't sure at all that she was making the situation better. She might even be making it worse...Andromeda didn't know quite else what to say. "Do I scare you? She asked self-consciously.  

[xo maho]

The explanation that Andromeda's Nocturne gave her felt like it loosened her a little, and Ithillún visibly shifted into a slightly more relaxed position, no longer standing quite so tall. One of her back hooves leaned forward a little, resting on its front in an almost instinctual at-ease pose. She tilted her head at the mare before her. Merponies? Had she heard such a thing before? It certainly sounded familiar. Perhaps... Had her mother told her a story of them, from about when she'd come off the ship that had brought her here from her homeland? That could be it. They were rare and elusive creatures, but she had met one upon her disembarking of the boat. "Are..." Ithillún began, but then bit her lip. It would surely be rude to ask, would it not? But she did not know the breed temperaments of whatever this kelpi was. Andromeda's Nocturne looked to be a cross between what she pictured a mer soquili to be and a simple regular soquili. Could it be...? "Are you the child of a mer?" she asked, feeling so far from polite that she felt ashamed.

"I am not afraid," she said quietly. "Just... unsure." Unsure enough to keep her words and questions to a minimum. And even at a minimum, there were many questions yet to ask.  

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

Andromeda's Nocturne watched the mare hesitate. She kept still, wanting to make no threatening gestures to cause the mare any further alarm. Her skin twitched in the heat of the day, she felt a bit dry but refrained from splashing water on her skin.

Suddenly, the mare's posture relaxed and Andromeda very carefully dipped her tail into the water. The mare seemed more curious now, more willing to talk. She gave her time to ask her question.

The question that came wasn't one she really expected. "Well, no I'm not actually. My mother is a ground soquili with stars on her skin as beautiful as those in the skies. My father said when he looked at her, he was lost in the heavens of her eyes." She blushed a little then. "He is a kelpi. We can walk the land or swim the sea. Please, ask what you want. I do not mind. May I perhaps, ask you questions about yourself too?"  

[xo maho]

Ithillún's eyes followed the movement of the mare's tail, but it was slow, calculated and careful, not threatening at all. She nodded to the mare's explanation of her heritage. "They sound... beautiful. Inside and out," she allowed, smiling a tiny, tiny bit at the mental picture. "You must look like your mother," she caught herself saying, and then looked down at her feet, embarrassed for not having thought that through. "You can ask questions," she said slowly, carefully thinking about how this could go. There were things about the herd and even herself that not everyone needed to know, and those she would keep to herself. "I may not answer all of them. What is your first?" It was only fair, after all - she had asked a question, and Andromeda's Nocturne wanted to ask some of her own, so it was her turn.  

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

Andromeda blushed at the compliment. "Thank you," she splashed a little water further up her legs as she considered the mare looking at her. There were several questions she'd like to ask like the wooden hands that were on her body, or what were the lights that glowed so beautifully in her hair. But she was afraid that if she did ask those questions, the mare would clam up and say nothing else. "Why don't we start with something easy. I'd like to know your name, you have mine." She hoped that their conversation would continue.  

[xo maho]

"You're welcome," Ithillún replied automatically, watching as the mare splashed water over her legs. It seemed an almost unconscious movement, as Andromeda's eyes were focused on her. Lún watched the mare's eyes drift downward and back up again, and knew that, like so many others, even in the herd, she was curious about the nature that grew from her. The question she asked, though, was not one of the ones she had expected. My name?

Ithillún could practically feel her voice box shut down again, mistrusting. Her name was personal to her. That was not something easy! Her parents, her herd mates, they were the only ones who knew it. She rarely spoke to visitors, and so they rarely made off with it. Lún let out a sigh that was a cross between frustration and resignation. "What you ask," she whispered, eyes dropping down to the water, "is not something that is easy to give." But shouldn't she give something? If this mare visited the herd for any length of time, she was bound to hear part of it, at least, or a nickname. "Usually, I am called Lún." Now, is it my turn? "Where is your family?" she asked quietly. Will they be coming too?

Nyx Queen of Darkness

 

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

Andromeda watched a look come across the other mare's face. Apparently her question was not as easy as she had thought it was. Still, it was a name to call the other mare. Lun.

"Sure," she answered. Though she wasn't quite sure why a name wasn't easy to give. She'd never had a reason to hide hers or not to tell it. Was there a reason she should? She didn't think so. Andromeda stopped that train of thought in an effort not to judge.

"By the sea, mostly. We stay close to the water. But I wanted to go on an adventure, so I went. Careful to stick to the streams and water sources or I dry out too quickly.