[SPRP] Water Lillies in the Fall [Lien Hua & Emaera]

[Teh Cheryl]

This is a private self roleplay between Lien Hua and Emaera (Teh Cheryl). Please do not post without permission.

 

[Teh Cheryl]

Lien sat by the creek listening to the soft, gently tinkering of the running water. Her head held high and with perfect poise, the stark white of her coat a sharp contrast to the lush of autumn colors that swirled around her. Her long mane fell gracefully down the back of her neck, gentle rustling in the wind but otherwise in perfect order. Her headdress sat impeccable on her hair, framing her pale face, and the flowers sat pert and fresh as though they had only be plucked a minute earlier. Her long tail was newly brushed and curled around her like a protective cocoon from outsiders.

Her eyes slid shut as she listened to the tranquil sounds of the running and the rustling of leaves, content to be alone.  

[Teh Cheryl]

Emaera paddled herself downstream, swimming easily with the gentle current of the creek. The creek itself wasn't particular deep or wide, no more than two feet deep and perhaps twice as wide, but luckily Emaera had always been on the small side even for her kind. The bottom of the creek was carefully lined with rocks that gleamed shiny whites and grays under the water and the light bounced beautifully on them from her perspective.

The current pushed her a little to the right and she moved with it, enjoying the leisurely swim. She had not been down this creek before and she was taking the opportunity to travel around before it got too cold and she forced to remain further south where the tropic air stayed warm and breezy year round. She had refused Imperio's offer to carry her around, because, while she enjoyed his company, she could admit that sometimes his energy was so so very tiring. Imperio would be bouncing up and around all day if they were together and sometimes it was just nice to swim, slow and steady.  

[Teh Cheryl]

Lien's ears flickered at the sound of movement, the only sign that she had heard anything and the only proof that she was, in fact, not a statue. It was the faintest splash, only a touch louder than the natural turbulence of the small, peaceful creek. She slowly turned her head to the sound that clearly was coming from her only, watery companion, tilting her head to the side to hear it a little better. Her mane shifted with her movement, falling down the side of her cheek like a obsidian curtain, straight and true and endless.

She wondered if it was some of the local wildlife, a fish or frog that had wandered into the water's path. The creek and the subsequent ponds and lake in the area were full of brightly colored koi and goldfish, and Lien took undisguised delight at spending her hours watching their multi-colored scales shine as they swam to and fro, begging for bits and pieces of food that she did not have. She caught a small splash out of the corner of her hair and the hint of a black-tipped tail.  

[Teh Cheryl]

Emaera's tail gave a small splash as she accident swerved too quickly to the side while she did a whimsical spin. She tipped over, head over tail in the water, and she reached one small hoof to scraped against the rock floor in an attempt to slow herself. She hadn't been traveling too fast, but her speed coupled with her use of traveling in the 'fast lane' of the current had led her to spin a little out of control. She knew if she just let the current take her down, she'd eventually slow to a stop but in a moment of brief panic, she couldn't help but reach out to try and stop herself.

Her hoof scraped the shallow edge of the creek, her spinning having caused her to veer sharply to the side and closer to the more shallow edges of the water. She tumbled, the friction of her hoof slowing down half of her body while the other half continued onward. 'Oh dear,' she thought to herself. 'Oh dear, oh dear.'  

[Teh Cheryl]

Lien was too well trained to sigh, but she sometimes wished she could. Even without any company, she would not allow her carefully gathered mannerism to slip. One never knew where someone might be lurking and it would not do for one of them to see her out of any sorts. But, it was becoming increasingly likely that someone or something might be needing her assistance and it was not her nature to let another suffer when she could possibly be of some sort of assistance.

She pulled herself up on her feet in a single, swift movement. Her front legs first before her back came up just as easily, her carefully placed headdress barely swaying with the movement. She took a few steps upstream where the disturbance was rapidly moving toward her, and her ruby eyes scanned the water's surface with a diligent eye.

There.  

[Teh Cheryl]

'Eeeee,' Emaera though to herself in panic as she rapidly tailspinned head over tail over and over again, lost in the current. 'Heeeeeelpppp,' she thought out desperately, unsure how to stop herself. She was almost resigned herself to simply keep spinning until the current inevitable stopped. It was unlikely that she could injure herself if she managed to push herself toward the deeper center of the stream given her diminutive size. She was small even for a seathi, and times like this is when it came to her advantage. Actually moving herself toward the center was another story though, She reached out another small hoof, dragging it against the rocks and soil of the stream bottom to try and slow herself down some more or, if not possible, give herself a little push inward. Instead all she did was force herself into another spin, her tail splashing up and over into the air.

'Oh bother bother bother. How do I get myself into these situations?'
 

[Teh Cheryl]

It was a seathi. Now that Lien was close enough, she could easily make out the form of the small aquatic in the water, spinning up and around with the current of the water. It was apparent that it had lost control in the fast moving water and was spinning up and around against its will, and if she listened, she could hear the soft high-pitched squeaks that the poor things was emitting in its panic.

Lien dropped down to the grass against, the movement no less graceful than when she had brought herself up to her feet moments before. She reached her neck out careful, giving her head a toss to brush all of her mane to one side of her should. She would be getting the ends wet, but there was nothing to do about that now. She kept one eye on the moving form of the small seathi and when it reached right before her, she took a quick breath being plunging her nose down into the cold water. She could feel the little body hit her cheek and she blinked a few splashes of water out of her eyes. Luckily the stream was shallow along the edges and her obstruction had slowly the other down with minimal warm. She gave it a gentle nudge, feeling small hooves scrape against her cheek as they tried to re-situate themselves.  

[Teh Cheryl]

"Oof."

This time it was said aloud, the single grunt managing to escape her lips as she felt her body slam into something soft and warm and furry. Something that was distinctively not a rock. She did not know what it was but she was not about to let this chance escape her. It had knocked the wind out of her more out of surprise than actual pain, but it had slowed her to an abrupt stop. She could still feel the current trying to push her around the new obstacle and her slick body was threatening to slide off and around and continue for who knows how long further downstream. She scrambled for a second, her two front hooves trying to cling to the warm pillar before her. After a moment, she managed to situate herself, her long tail uncurled and anchoring herself to a large rock to her side and her two hooves carefully set upon whatever had helped her.  

[Teh Cheryl]

Lien stayed still, careful not to jostle the small seathi who had finally managed to wedge itself between Lien's muzzle and the shoreline. She could feel the small scrapes of its hooves against her nose. It was ticklish but she had long been able to ignore the urge to giggle in an unseemly manner at the feeling. She waited another few seconds until the urge to breathe became too much.

Careful not to disturb the little stranger too much--it would not do for her to save the other only to accidentally send it tumbling back down the river and who knows how long it would take for the other to right itself without someone helping--Lien pulled her nose out of the stream.

Drops of water fell from her wet nose and the ends of her hair had, indeed, gotten wet, spraying a little waterfall of liquid back into the stream. Lien gave her head a quick flick to shove off the worst of the damage before quickly ducking her head back down to take a look at her new companion.  

[Teh Cheryl]

Emaera let out a big huff of relief, her tail finally anchoring herself to the ground and her front hooves still resting against the soft, warm assistance that had been provided to her. Now that she wasn't tumbling hoof over tail again, she could look to see what had helped her out. Her eyes had only a moment to look upward before the pillar of assistance moved, enough time for her to catch sight of dark red eyes and pink flowers and aaaalllll that hair. She shook her head back and forth, moving her flowing mane out of her eyes as she continued to look up and out of the water. She couldn't see much, the distortion of the light in the water making it almost impossible to see much detail beyond a few colors and shapes but it was clear that her assistance had come from a full-sizer!

They probably wouldn't want to eat her. Saving her was a lot of trouble, after all, and she wasn't really large enough to be much of a tasty morsel. Really. At least that's what she told herself when she careful pushed herself from her anchor rock to poke herself up and out of the water. She had to at least say thank you!  

[Teh Cheryl]

A small head poked itself out of the water, pearlescent white with the barest hint of black on its nose and tangled between strands of wet hair. But its eyes. Its eyes were the brightest green Lien had ever seen; even the lush greens of her private garden and the carefully cared for trees did not match the brightness of the little seathi's eyes. It looked female, but Lien did not care to make any assumptions, but it's little back fins wiggled almost unconsciously as it bobbed against the shoreline.

Lien gave a polite nod of her head, the tassels of her headdress tilting forward with the movement. "Hello," she greeted, her voice polite but lacking any significant emotion. "Are you quite alright?"  

[Teh Cheryl]

She had to be the prettiest mare Emaera had ever set eyes on, and that was saying quite a bit in her opinion. Emaera had always admired the gracefulness of the other mares in the herd--Auri's smooth warrior-like walking or Nixsi soft dreamlike dance. But this mare, with her pale markings and her shiny black hair was just gorgeous. Emaera blushed a little at the thought, as she swam to the edge of the bank, hooking her front hooves over the water's edge and into the short grass. Her tail scrambled to find purchase on something for a few moments before it found a smaller rock--a pebble really-- that her thin tail wound itself around with care. As long as she didn't fling herself away from the shoreline, she should be safe from another dizzy journey downstream.

"Hello," Emaera replied, her voice a high-pitched chirp and was followed by a cautious smile. She had gotten used to being around full-sizers in the last few years, but even strange ones still made her a bit on the wary side. "Thank you for the help! I think I would have just spun on and on forever if you hadn't helped me!"