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 Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:22 am
Neve drifted along, enjoying the winter sun in a cloudless blue sky. Her wings rustled as the rays warmed her feathers and she let out a small breath, a puff of white that hung in the air for a brief moment.
As she walked sedately along, there seemed to be little wrong about the picture..of course if one was observing, and had a sharp eye they would notice that the mare seemed to possess an extra 4 legs, thinner and moving swiftly to keep up with the others. As Neve paused for a moment a thump against her hindquarters made her cast her eyes skywards as if searching for something, and she turned, revealing the filly who had bumped into her.
'Maharet, you can walk independantly of me, there is nothing, and no one here that you need to worry about.' her expression softened slighty as she looked at the slightly trembling filly. 'But Mama, you said she could fly, if she spots me, she will swoop down and take me away!' Maharet squeaked, her head bobbing about as she scanned the area in a speedy, nervous fashion. 'You were told about your Grandmother simply to warn you not to wander where we could not see you, I never meant you to take fright so much. You're perfectly safe here, with me, and with your Daddy..' Neve scooted Maharet close with a curled wing, and hugged her to her side, leaning and lipping at her daughters mane to try and soothe her.
'Grand-daddy lives around here as well, which I told you, so she won't come, I promise.'
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Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 5:34 pm
  "Alouette, if you don't step along a bit more brisky your hooves are going to freeze to the ground; should that happen, we are NOT going to be getting you back in anything even remotely resembling a timely fashion, and I seriously doubt that such would be appreciated by your mother who, I do not doubt, will hold me entirely responsible. You wouldn't want to expose your father to such harrassment, would you?"
Pausing atop a small snowy rise, Guilian stood in all his splendor, a brilliant red profile against the white snow. Though not usually much of a walker, one look was enough to explain why he traveling by foot rather then by air; about ten yards or so away from the stallion, a small gray colt sporting wind wings and a remarkably familiar mask was standing by a large tree and nosing at the bark. It was this inattention that had prompted Guilian's gentle admonishment; after all, the two of them only had so much time together before Alouette was due back to his mother's. "Your sisters will be only too pleased to take advantage of the chance to make it farther than you, Louie; and here I thought you were too competitive for that!"Pulling his attention away from the tree, Louie looked towards his father with a puzzled frown that quickly dissolved into a grin as he realized that Guilian was just teasing him. "Well, I wanted to see why it was all blue and green and stuff. All the trees by us are just brown, and brown is BORING. Why do the trees here have scales, Papa?"
Scampering up the rise to where his father was standing, Louie fell into step with his father as the older stallion also began walking again, the colt all but skipping along at his father's side. "And I can't REALLY freeze to the ground, can I Papa? Or if I can, maybe only if'n I stand still for days and hours and weeks, right?"His mouth twitching slightly in an effort to maintain his composure, Guilian replied to his son's probing questions with a mere shrug. "You know, I'm not sure why these trees have scales and those you are familiar with do not; I would suppose it's because of the type of tree. And as for freezing to the ground...well, THAT you'd be surprised about!"
It had been far too long since Guilian had had children about; much as he loved mares and companionship, there was something just as powerful and magical in the bond of parent and child. They always had such spirit, such a wide-eyed wonder at the world...and then, just like that, they were grown and gone, leaving him to his lonesome. Not that he ever suffered from solitude, of course...
Ah, he amused himself with his indecision sometimes!
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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 5:38 am
Neve had to pause again, yawning as she stood on the sun-warmed meadow. If it hadnt been such a day..well she might well have been carrying Maharet, she really didnt envisage this little outing to take so long!
The filly had thought she had heard something, taken fright and managed to squeeze her way into a low lying, tightly foliaged shrub and all that could be seen was a slight flash of teal as she shook amongst the branches.
'Maharet, there is nothing, no one here, I assure you.' Neve pushed her nose into the depths of the the shrub and peered at her daughter.
'Really now. We're going home once you get out of there, and you know that is perfectly safe.'
'Kay..' came a reluctant little mumble and Maharet pushed her way out, eyes darting about her as she did so. This time she was sure..
'There! There!' she cried, catching a flash of crimson and darting around behind her mother's legs once more.
'What, what?' Neve's ears flattened back until she caught sight of what exactly had spooked the filly this time.
'It's fine sweetie, I think you might be about to meet your Grandfather,' she pushed Maharet firmly forwards, heading over to meet Guilian.
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Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2008 11:52 am
As Guilian was looking back over his shoulder at his son as the colt bounced along at his father's side, he was denied the distinction of being the observant one. Indeed, he was in such a high state of 'paternal fondness' that he probably could have walked into a tree and not realized it.
Or not; walking into trees was something for those that lacked natural grace and an inherrant understanding of their relative position in the universe, something that he's always possessed in abundance (in his mind, at least). He simply lacked the observational powers of a curious foal, that was all.
Indeed, it was Louie who first perked up his ears, catching sight of what was undeniably other Soquilis; undeniably strange Soquilis, even! In his relatively short life, he'd only really met a couple Soquili other than his parents and two sisters, therefore the chance to see someone else was a positive. Additionally, if it was someone that was less STUPID than his sisters, it would be an even bigger bonus, and he was willing to see if that was the case.
So he perked his ears, then immeadiately headbutted his father in the flank. "Papa, look! There's strangers over there, look! Do you know them, Papa? Or can we go meet them together, hrm? We can do that for just a LITTLE bit, right Papa?" Wheedling was a fine art for a foal to master, and Louie was never shy to try it out on his dad. His mother was a lost cause; she seemed to be completely impervious to wheedling, but Guilian, now....THAT was a possibility. "Cause it's nice to meet people, right Papa?"
It would have taken a lot more than the mere threat of a displeased mother to make Guilian deny such an entreaty, especially when he glanced up and saw exactly who the 'people' were. It had been so long since he'd seen his eldest daughter; exactly how long was suggested by the small filly now heading towards them. Smiling in pleased anticipation, Guilian gave Louie a nod, then started towards the two mares himself. "Indeed, I know one of them very well, Louie; come along now, and you can do the same."
With that, Guilian spread wide his wings in a welcoming gesture, moving purposefully towards Neve with a wide smile. "My dear Neve, it has been far too long!"
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Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 11:32 am
'I was about to say just that Daddy,' Neve grinned, looking at the colt at his side. He always would be her Daddy, even when she had grand-children of her own. She shuddered at that thought a little though and pushed it away. That was too far in the future to be thought of right now. Her eyes raked over the little boy; even though there was only the faintest hint of red on him, she could tell he was Guilian's from the black mask on his muzzle.
'It has been a long time indeed,' she said her head motioning towards the little grey winged one.
'Didn't you tell me last time about grown-up children?' she giggled, giving Guilian a hug with her own opened wings.
Maharet eyed the big red male with a smattering of curiosity, giving a timid smile as her Mother greeted him with affection and it had to said a great deal of teasing that she would never use with Neve!
Having lost the shelter of her mother's legs, she rustled her winglets, shifting her weight from one leg to the other and then remembered her manners, making the little bow that Neve had taught her.
'lo,' she said quietly to Louie.
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Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 11:52 am
Laughing at Neve's rather pointed observation, Guilian gave his eldest daughter a nuzzle and n** of greeting, ruffling her slightly wind-blown curls with the strong feathers at the tip of his wing as he replied. "Well, Nevelet, call me old fashioned, but I feel that the time immeadiately surrounding the birth of new foals is a private time for parents. In my experience, it has always seemed that new mothers want nothing more than to be left alone by the outside world, and as I had not yet met your young stallion, I felt it would be prudent to give you two a little bit of time to adjust to being a new family, yes? Besides, I myself had a little bit going on as well since we last parted ways."
Giving Neve a wink, he stepped back and scooped Louie front and center with his wing, giving Maharet a grin by way of apology for stealing her conversation partner (albeit briefly). "My dear Neve, allow me the pleasure of introducing your brother, Allouette. Louie, this is your oldest sister, Neve, and her daughter." As Guilian didn't actually know said daughter's name, that was about as far as he could go on THAT introduction, but at least it had panache!
As he had been staring rather intently at Maharet's 'wild and crazy pattern', Louie had been taken off-guard at being relocated; consequently, he let out a slight squeal at the move that he was deeply ashamed of in reflection. However, he tried to be a mannerly little fellow, for all his faults, so once he got his bearings back he gave mother and daughter both a grin and a little bow. "Yep, I'm Louie; Allouette is my fancy formal name, but Louie is my actual honest name, so THAT'S what you should call me. And I've got two sisters, too, but there're back with Mama right now and their names are Rosa and 'Tina. And I have another sister, too, and her name is 'Mary, but she's got a dif'ren Mama than me. I think I gots some other brothers, too, but they ALSO got a diff'ren Mama. You must have a diff'ren Mama too, Neve, cause you don' look at all like my Mama. And you have big teeth, wow! Do you ever cut yourself?"
Ever the inquisitive soul, Louie was just getting fired up on his round of questions when Guilian lightly but firmly clapped a wing on his son's shoulders, a gentle reminder that an introduction was not the most suitable time to indulge every facet of one's curiousity. Feeling the touch and knowing exactly what it meant, Louie immeaditely clammed up any further enquiries (for the moment), and gave both females another little bow before looking at Maharet. "An what's your name...Cousin?" Never having had a neice, he had no idea what the right term for his and Maharet's relationship; however, the best way to find out was to ask, right?
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Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 6:04 am
'Well, I do appreciate that Daddy,' Neve said with a flick of her head, settling the ruffled mane curls again.
'And was that a pointed hint that you wanted to meet Marius? I'm sure he wouldn't mind meeting my father, after all he's already met my charming mother.' she gave a wry grin at that memory.
She nodded with a chuckle;
'Yes, I do see that.'
She blinked a little at the colts own bold introduction, if she compared her daughter to this littlest brother of hers she came off the worse. But this outspoken fellow had not been raised under the threat of a Kalona attack, and so made allowances for her daughter's nervous nature, however much it worried her.
'Well hello to you Louie.'
Allouette would be the name she would use if he ever got on her nerves, as she had an inkling he might. She gave him a short answer to his questions regarding her mother;
'Yes we do have a different mother. Anyway, this is indeed your cousin, her name is Maharet.'
Neve gave a pointed look to her daughter.
Maharet gave a little nod, and with shaking legs gave a proper bow, bending at knee with the other leg stretched before her, winglets open.
'Hello Louie. Hello Grandfather Guilian.' she said and stood properly again. She looked at Louie.
'I have two brothers.' she said in a quiet voice.
'Jaci and Belial,' Neve gave the names for Guilian's benefit more than anything.
'Jaci is a grounded. And. And Belial looks alot like you. But he has Kalona wings.'
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Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2008 12:19 pm
"Well, far be it for me to hint, Neve; who, why and when your young stallion chooses to meet is hardly my say, as he IS his own stallion. However, if the opportunity presented itself, I would certainly be delighted to meet him; I know I could never hope to be as delightful as your mother, but hopefully I can manage to not scare him too badly." Guilian managed to keep a straight face during the course of this comment, but gave his daughter a wide grin on the very small chance she doubted he was teasing. Indeed, he loved the idea of meeting this Marius; a player himself, he was always at least a litle bit intrigued at the motivations of the monogamous. Besides, if Neve liked him, then at the very least Guilian should give him a chance himself!
And if little Maharet was any indication, Marius must be an attractive fellow, always a positive.
As subtle wasn't a part of Louie's own personality and sarcasm an unknown art, Neve's shortness went straight over his head. Instead, he was looking with fascination at Maharet. That bow of hers was so NEAT! "Wow, cool...how do you do that? It looks like it should make you fall over, but it didn't." Glancing at his own wings, he contemplated trying a bow himself, then decided against it. After all, some things needed practice before being tried out in public!
Instead, he just moved on. Cocking his head to one side at Neve's comment, he queried Neve and Maharet alike. "What's 'grounded' mean?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2008 12:37 pm
'True, he is that,' Neve's face darkened a moment; she still had vague insecurities about her and Marius's relationship, because of his reticence to believe in love, but they lessened the longer they were together.
'Oh Daddy, if you can go the whole meeting without trying to attack him, and leaving me with permanent scarring than you'll be as a fluffy bunny in comparison.' she said airily, regaining her humour.
'So,' she said, looking back at Louie.
'Did I ever meet the mother of this one?' she grinned at Guilian.
'Umm, I just don't?' Maharet said, tip-toeing from her shell whilst there were two adults about to protect her. She gave a timid smile as he tried to do a bow, and then she blinked when he changed the subject almost immediately.
'I don't know?' she ventured, looking up at her mother.
'No wings, no horns or anything, a regular Soquili.' Neve supplied.
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Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2008 12:59 pm
"My dear Neve, I think that we can both rest assured that attacking your lifemate is the farthest thing from my mind. I am nothing if not totally charming and personable, after all, and no matter how much the fanged types might try to make a case for the affective elements of violence, I'm just not seeing it myself." Smiling, Guilian patted Neve's cheek, his look the loving and affectionate smile of the father who could never see anything wrong with any one of his family members. Then again, there was nothing to actually FIND wrong with his family, as far as he was concerned...but that was neither here or now.
Glancing at the two foals, he looked back at his daughter with amusement. "I doubt it, Nevelet; then again, as far as I know, you are only acquainted with ONE mother of my children." Three guesses which one there! "She is a pleasant sort, if a bit more serious than many mares out there. A very charming looker, too; Louie takes after her a great deal, color-wise."
Obivious to any commenting on the part of adults about him personally, Louie made an 'Ohhhhhh' face at Maharet as he got his explanation. "Oh, I get it! Yeah, my Mama is a grounded, then, and so are Tina and Rosa. I got wings, but they just have fake wings, like Mama. They're really cool fake wings, though, I bet you'd like them, Maharet. They can't fly with them, but MAN they look neat." Giving Maharet a grin, Louie looked at his own real wings, fluttering them proudly before pausing with a sigh. "I can't really fly yet, though, so it really makes me a grounded myself right now. Can you fly with your wings, Maharet? Papa is starting to teach me to fly, but it's HARD and I can't really do it yet."
Breathing while talking: A highly overrated art.
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Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2008 1:12 pm
'I know, I was teasing.' Neve smiled, giving him a playful pat with one of her own wings.
'Hey, now,' she said, baring her own fangs.
'A little bit of..well hurt can be nice, but yes. I'll never know why she did what she did, nor why any of her kind think that way.'
Neve had crystal clear hindsight now as to why her father could have never stayed with Izusa. It would never have worked. She could easily imagine that one day her mother would have turned on Guilian.
'True, but you've never introduced me to those other ladies. I can be polite when I want to be y'know Daddy.' she smiled sweetly, then let out a short laugh at Louie's jabbering.
'Does he ever pass out from doing that?'
'What are fake wings?' Maharet was confused. Didn't you either have wings or not? Her forehead wrinkled in her puzzlement.
'I can fly a teeny bit.' she said.
'I can get off the ground a little bit. I land bad though.' she admitted. Neve had been teaching Maharet to fly whenever she had a quiet moment with her. She had hoped it might make her feel safer if she had another way to escape.
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Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2008 2:21 pm
At Neve's comment about hurt, Guilian merely chuckled, accepting that everyone had their own preferences and that trying to actually understand every possible preference out there was merely asking for a headache...and headaches were highly overrated, he'd always thought. Just like worrying. It was much better to be happy and not dwell on the negatives or the maybes, after all!
Which was why it was so easy to laugh off Neve's teasing. "I'm sure that you can understand that it would be rather complicated to try and introduce each of my children to each of my paramors, Nevelet; it's hard enough introducing each of my children to each other, to say nothing of my grandkids." Looking from his daughter to the two foals, Guilian smiled, pleased as always to see his family members getting along. "Thus far, Louie has managed to stay conscious, but I am not always around, no. He is a delightful little fellow, if a bit direct in his inquiries. But on a similar note, how is parenthood treating you? Is your Marius picking up the slack to your satisfaction?"
At Maharet's question, Louie stuck out his tongue thoughtfully, chewing on it as he found himself up against a question he hadn't anticipated. How exactly did one describe fake wings other than just saying that they were fake. "Well....it's like this. You see how I have these feathery-patterns on my body but they're not really feathers, and you have those squigglies on your coat but they're just pictures and not real squiggles that are seperate from your body? Well, they have patterns on them that are exactly the same shape and look as wings, only they're just pictures that look like wings. You should see them sometime, they're REALLY cool! Mama and Tina and Rosa and Requiem all have them. Sometimes I wish I had them...but then you can't fly with them, and you're learning to fly just the same as me? That's neat! I can land really good, but I can only get a couple of inches off the ground so there's really not that far down to go for landing." Yeah...he was working on that, but flying was hard!
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Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 12:41 pm
'Pfft,' Neve replied, winking.
'You just thought I would be rude and disgrace you by talking about Izusa.' she pondered that.
'Well, I might have done at one point, but not anymore. Beside,' she gave him a tap with her wing again.
'I'm not asking you to introduce me to every lady that you 'woo', just those that give birth to my relations Daddy.' she poked her tongue out at him, and then tucked it away.
'It's going well, he does what he can.' she murmured, not really going into full detail.
'He chatters. Alot.' she commented, wondering how Maharet would cope with the colt.
'Uhh yeah?' Maharet's head kind of bobbed as she strove to keep up with the stream of words coming from Louie. She was waiting for him to turn a funny colour..or go bang or something.
'Oh I see. I think..' she fell quiet as she thought her words out carefully.
'That I like my real wings best.' and she gave them a little flap as she said so.
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Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2008 1:27 pm
At that, Guilian merely chuckled, giving his daughter an 'aren't you cute' sort of smile that was the exclusive property of a parent. "Hardly, Chica; I would never be so crass as to lie to a female as to my amorous proclivities; I never claimed to be faithful, and this fact I would own up to if asked. It would merely have been a social faux pas on your end to discuss your mother, nothing more. Besides, we all know that children do not spring up from the earth fully grown, no? I think that your prescence would signify the existance of a mother in at least some fashion."
And on that note and the reference to Louie's chattering, Guilian found himself glancing first to the colt, then up to the sky to see where the sun was. Tsking at the results, he spoke up again louder, making sure that both foals would be able to hear (or at least Louie!). "Well, this has been a pleasure, Nevelet, but on the topic of mothers, Louie will be missed by his if I do not return him post-haste. After all, fathers might be an amazing asset to the whole nurturing process, but there are some things that fall better to mothers, no? Ah, how our species would fall to ruin without the female...to say nothing of the emotional distress that would befall the males!"
Chuckling, Guilian gave Neve a knowing smile; after all, she herself was a parent now, so she had to know what he meant. On top of that, she was a mother, and hopefully, HOPEFULLY...
Somewhere in the flotsam of happiness, positivity, self-confidence, and passion that formated the basic Guilian personality, there were a few stray anxieties. For the most part, these anxieties stayed away, unobtrusive and remote, but now and then they tried to make themselves known. Like now, for example.
Looking at Neve, Guilian wondered briefly if things would have been better if he'd never come around when they were growing up. He could never regret his three oldest children, but he could never think of the circumstances of their childhoods without feeling a pang. He could have made things easier for them, after all; all he would have needed to do was reign in his impulses a bit and focus on being whatever passed as a devoted mate to a crazed kalona. Izusa had, at one point, adored him, in her own fashion; he'd made a mess of things with his wanderings. After all, one just couldn't reason with a deranged kalona, even a lovely, neglected, unloved kalona. He'd been himself without thinking of what that might do to his kids, and as a result they'd been put into the middle of a truly unpleasant mother/father relationship.
For a moment, his lighthearted expression tightened, a rare twinge of seriousness crossing at the corners; looking away from the foals and Neve alike, he found himself looking back at the three foals, left trying to juggle loyalties between two warring parents and somehow manage to grow up at the same time. It was with that vision in mind that he suddenly, quietly, asked, "Are you happy, Neve?"
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Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2008 1:55 pm
'Yes, I get that, but it would have been the how I talked about her in front of others,' Neve remarked, for at one time she had been her mother's most staunch supporter, even at the risk of ruining her relationship with her father. As a filly she couldn't understand why her father had hurt Izusa so much. But now. Now she knew that her mother was incredibly hard, and dangerous to be around, let alone co-habit with.
'I know you didn't, and it was selfish foal naivete that made me act as I did. I did love mother though, and maybe I still do for when I was younger and she was, well what passed as affectionate for her towards me.'
She chuckled;
'Yes, I suppose you would be in for it with his mother if you kept him out wandering too long at his age.' she smiled at Guilian, perfectly understanding him in that regard.
'Daddy?' she looked, as he seemed to fall quiet, introspective even. When his question came, she looked at him before answering.
'I think so.' she said, thoughtful as she replied.
'I'm worried about my children, growing up under the threat from Izusa. I worry that I might have to face her again. But even so, yes I think I am as happy as I can be. I have love, and family, and if something happened to me tomorrow, I'd have known those both. It's more than some can say. I'm not sure how that rates as an answer, but it's what I have.'
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