[SRP] Gliding Along (Errol Dynamyk)

[divena]

This is a self RP for Errol Dynamyk (Divena & DivenasMom)

 

[divena]

For several long months, Errol Dynamyk had been searching for the perfect tree to roost in. Or, rather, a good forest to call home. His home had to have lots of trees in varying heights, with plenty of branches so he could glide. It had to have a river nearby so he could drink his fill without leaving the safety of the shade cast by his lovely trees. And, ideally, there wouldn’t be too many other soqs that would bother him. Errol didn’t exactly hate others of his own kind, but he did find them somewhat dull. He preferred his own company and a good strong branch to jump from. That was another important thing. He needed good, strong trees. Unfortunately, such trees usually only grew in old forests, and those sorts of forests were already homes to other flocks of herds.

Still, he was confident that he had found a good choice. It was only the third forest he had considered in the last six months. He had scouted it quickly before the sun went down, and as far as he could see, there was only a small herd near the edges of the forest. The trees were tall and strong. The branches dipped and stretched to his satisfaction. He stood before one tall tree with roots that stuck up high enough that he could jump up onto them and use them to pull himself up further into the tree. Higher up, though easily accessible to a nimble, winged mini such as himself, was a hollow that was just big enough for him to curl up and sleep in. All in all, it was perfect. There was just one thing that would make it better.

With a careful glance around to make sure there were no other creatures to see what he was doing, he found a nice little spot and started to dig. It wasn’t easy, the ground was only just beginning to thaw, but he was determined. No matter how perfect a place might be, he couldn’t call it home unless he planted an acorn from the forest he had been born in. It was a silly little tradition, but it was one of the few that he had. Even if the tree that grew from the acorn wouldn’t be strong enough to support him, he still took comfort in knowing that it was there, and that he had planted it.

He had carried away dozens of such acorns when he left his birth forest, all carefully nestled in a bag. Now he was down to less than ten, after having thought he had found the perfect place and then been chased away for whatever reason. He wasn’t bothered, though. He actually felt a little smug for spreading his birth forest around a bit… Assuming those acorns actually were allowed to grow.

He shook that concern away as he dropped another acorn and then carefully padded the dirt over it. This one, he decided, he’d be able to guard. He had a strong feeling about this forest…
 

[divena]

A month passed relatively uneventfully. Oh, sure, there was a bit of a commotion with the nearby herd, but Errol had avoided them easily enough. It was a big valley, and they were a small herd. More like a family than anything else, from what he’d observed. There was also a skinwalker living on the edge of the valley a safe distance away. Well, as safe as anyone could be with a walker within a day’s travel. It was a feline of some sort, which concerned Errol for a total of three days. Some observation, however, proved to the small, winged mini that the skinwalker was completely incompetent. Errol made a point to stay to the trees and be careful, but he decided that the situation was manageable. It didn’t make the valley unlivable. At least not to him. Maybe to the small herd…

Errol considered the family as he dropped in on the seed he had planted. They were an odd little family from what he had observed. The alpha seemed to be a mini, slightly smaller than him, with a huge personality. Though there were larger soqs and mini ones, they all seemed, more or less, related. At least, most of them seemed to share similar coloring. Maybe there was something in the water… Ah well, these were questions he could probably have answered if he ever decided to reveal himself to them.

Right now, Errol’s attention needed to be on his surroundings. In the past month, he had learned the trees in the small forest. He knew which ones he could climb into easily, and which one had branches that would support his weight. He wasn’t a bird or a wind, but he was a glider. That combined with his nimbleness meant that he very rarely had to touch his hooves onto the ground, which was how he liked it. He always felt so nervous when he had to walk on the dirt. The sooner he could get back up in the branches, the happier he would be. Still, he wanted to check on his budding tree, as he did every week. A tiny leaf had poked up out of the ground a couple weeks ago, which he took as a good sign. There had been some places he had attempted to settle where the acorns didn’t bud at all. The fact that it was growing here… that meant he could grow, too, right? Right.

The tiny tree was still where he had left it, untouched by any of the woodland creatures. It was probably too small for any of them to take note of it. He considered moving some rocks around it to give it an extra bit of protection from the elements. Except that would defeat the purpose, wouldn’t it? Errol studied the plant one last time before disappearing into the bushes so he could escape into the trees. He’d see how it was next week before he decided.
 

[divena]

On his way to check on his growing tree, Errol found himself distracted, yet again, by the small herd that shared the valley with him. He had gone several months without drawing attention to himself. Even that skinwalker that lived on the outskirts of the forest hadn’t bothered him much. He had made himself quite comfortable and was satisfied with his new home. Of course, in that time, it also seemed like that small herd kept growing… or transforming… He wasn’t sure which. He was having trouble keeping track of them.

Not that he had ever really put much effort in keeping track of them. Really, he’d been trying to avoid them. But he had originally thought there were only four or five members… and then he noticed some more little ones… and then some even smaller little ones… It was starting to peak his interest, which was a bad thing. He was getting more and more curious about them, which meant watching them more often. That, of course, would lead to revealing himself to them.

Well… he supposed he couldn’t hide from them forever. What if the herd grew even further? A couple of the new children had wings. It was only a matter of time before they took to the trees. Or above the trees. They looked like they would grow up to be one of the awkward giants. A spike of envy shot through him for a full second at that thought. The giant soquilis with wings could FLY. They could soar through the sky. The best Errol could do was glide from tree to tree, and then only the ones that were strong enough to hold his weight.

Errol banged his head lightly against the tree branch under him and forced himself away from the family. They hadn’t spotted him, yet. He was going to keep it that way for at least a little longer. He reminded himself that he preferred his life of solitude. He didn’t need to know his, for a lack of better word, neighbors. He was able to soar in brief bursts, and the winged foals were just that. Foals. They wouldn’t fly for a while yet. Oh, sure, where there were young fliers, there were usually older fliers, but Errol hadn’t spotted any of those yet.

Well, there was that large purple monstrosity, but Errol was fairly certain that the stallion was purely water bound. The fellow was large, even for a giant, and he never took to the sky. He did dive and swim in the river, however, and Errol had hardly ever seen anyone be as comfortable in the water as they were in the sky. It was usually one or the other.

Satisfied that he had successfully put off the inevitable for another day, Errol went to check on his flourishing acorn tree.