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 Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 9:45 am
The mare did so, ears pricking up attentively, though this made no different to perception of her friend’s voice it was habit.
You shouldn’t go that way, go to the left now and don’t look back. They are over that way.
Salomé gave a snort and did as instructed with some haste. She didn’t want to meet Them, not today. They seemed to be everywhere of late, sometimes they looked just like normal people but at other times she saw them for what they were. Evil. Pure evil.
Still, she would be safe going this way, Annabelle had said so. The crossbreed mare smiled faintly to herself and gave a chuckle. She was glad that Annabelle had learned how to see into her head and talk to it. Now she could hear from the other cross even when she wasn’t present, and in D’ob she seldom was for fear of all the people who might see her and tell Them about her. She hoped she never got to be as sought after by Them as her friend was. She didn’t want to have to avoid everybody, that would just be dull.
Humming softly to herself, the blood-red creature slowed her pace and lowered her head to the rich grass to crop at it. It was good to eat today; nice and green and healthy. She did dislike it when it went the wrong colour or wiggled about; she wasn’t allowed to eat it when it did that or it would hurt her. That was what Annabelle had told her at any rate, and she had no reason to disbelieve her friend.
Exactly. Don’t worry now, They won’t come for you here I don’t think. Still, do be careful of anyone that comes your way. You never know, you know, what they might be underneath.
Salomé smiled softly to herself. “Yes Anna,” she murmured, “I will be.” Still smiling slightly at her friend’s protectiveness, the gold-eyed Nequus got on with grazing.
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Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 10:15 am
(( Whee, no cert picture, because I don't have them done yet. >.>))
"Hhmmmhhmmmmdumehdoooooooooooooooooooo."
Xenostrate pinned his ears.
"Humdiddledeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!" He just couldn't get them flat enough. His teeth ground together.
"Dee!" Grind. "DOODELEEEEEEEEE!!!"
"XENOPHON!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Right on cue a grulla stallion came bursting out of the trees of Yisi, hovering between flight and running on the ground. He slammed his hooves into the ground and came to a skidding stop as he swooped by Xenostrate.
"Yip, yip, Xenostrate!" Xenophon called. "Did you mi---" He was cut off by the terrified squeals of another of his brothers.
"Ophie!!! Ophiee look out!!" Xenodoros never had much luck with flying, but he did his best to follow Xenophon's suit anyway. It was proving to be distastrous.
"Oh, cockledollars," was all 'Ophie' could manage before the identical Bae slammed into his side. The pair went rolling - much to the amusement of Xenostrate - towards a poor crossbreed who was just trying to enjoy a meal.
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Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 10:32 am
The crossbreed in question started up at the sudden burst of noise and activity coming her way. Eyes rolling and ears pinned flat back against her skull she pranced back a few paces and beat at the air with her forehooves for a moment before dropping back onto all fours and hop-skipping to the side. There Bae, there were three Bae here. They all looked quite alike, and all looked perfectly normal. Maybe they were normal. Maybe they weren’t. Maybe their rolling about was a plot to get close to her. Annabelle wasn’t offering any wisdom either way, and this left the mutant crossbreed to puzzle it out for herself.
No need to panic right away, right? These stallions might be perfectly normal people and if they weren’t she could work her magic to hold the demon in them down whilst she made a break for it. There was never any sense in trying to fight demons, they were always faster and stronger and better but you could run. Usually they didn’t bother to chase when you ran, and if they did they didn’t try to hurt you on the run and gave up for a while, once they had failed to convince you that they were really just a normal Nequus. They probably didn’t realize that she could see through them, that was probably it, it was your soul they wanted not your body so they had to keep up the act.
Snorting to herself again and eyeing the tumbling pair of Bae carefully, the gold-maned mare waited for further developments.
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Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 10:43 am
Xenophon coughed, struggled to his feet, and nearly made a face plant. Somehow, he managed to regain himself, though nothing could be said for his composure.
"Ophie?" the 'little' one piped.
"Hmm?" he asked of his clone staring up at him from the ground.
"You have grass in your nose."
Xenophon went crosseyed to catch a glimpse. So he did, and it was suddenly very ticklish. He took in one big breath and then let out a violent sneeze.
Shortly after Xenostrate came to the scene, shaking his head. "You must apologize for my brothers," he adressed the crossbreed. "They are dolts." It seemed he hadn't noticed the fact she was a crossbreed, yet.
"You're rather funny looking," Xenodoros commented, still having not gotten up.
"Tut, tut, Doros, that's rude." Ophon rolled his eyes. "You've got to phrase it thusly," he turned to pick out what he could compliment on the mare. His mouth fell open and he fell back a few paces.
Homan. Crossbreed. Not cool.
Xenostrate was eyeing him funny, and Xenodoros looked avidly confused. Xenophon swallowed hard, and backed up some more.
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Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 10:59 am
As one of the three stallions backed up for her, Salomé snorted and did the same to him. What, what? What was wrong with her? Could he see in her head? did he know what she could do? Yes, maybe that was it. Well... well she wasn’t going to run away right off, no, the other two hadn’t reacted so badly, so maybe the third of them was just afraid of her appearence. There seemed to be a few normal Nequus like that and... Did she remember something from her foalhood?
Yes.
A... a big mare. An Aeri? Maybe. Yes. Not long after she’d come out of her fruit she’d been told that her blood was bad. Her blood didn’t seem bad, not to her anyway. How could something that made such pretty roses be bad? Twitching her bladed tails nervously, the tall mare regarded the trio of Bae once more.
“Well... well hello,” she said to the one who had addressed her. Then, “is your... friend alright?” She wished Annabelle would come back and give her a clue on them, she herself wasn’t as good at guessing the good to evil ratio in a Nequus. Annabelle, her dear Annabelle, her love-sister, was nearly perfect at it. That was to say, she had yet to be wrong but Salomé was prepared to accept that even her friend was fallible and might someday be wrong. She wished her friend would come back. It was scary facing three possibly evil Bae who might be able to see into her head all by herself.
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Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 11:13 am
"He's queer," Xenostrate answered simply, glaring at his brother's behavior. Apparently he decided this would answer all the crossbreeds questions.
Xenodoros yawned and finally got to his feet, shaking himself down. He walked over to Xenophon who was yet to say another word.
"You're staring," Xenodoros told his brother, standing in front of his eyes. Xenophon appeared not to hear. "Xenophon."
"Huh?" Xenophon finally broke away from his trance and gave an uncharacterstic frown in Xenodoros' direction. He shuddered and turned, off in some unkown direction.
"Ophie?" Doros asked. "Ophie where are you going?"
"Best not to follow him," Xenostrate warned, turning his attention back the crossbreed. Xenodoros stopped midstep, nodded, and came back with a sigh.
"He has. . . issues," Xenostrate told her.
"Issues, Xenostrate?" Xenodoros asked.
"Issues."
Xenodoros hung his head, clearly not understanding. "Oh." He raised it once more, giving the crossbreed a look over. "I'm Xenodoros, what's your name?"
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Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 11:40 am
Salomé watched the stallion, who was one of the three stallions, retreat. That was good, he wouldn’t be any trouble to her if he was leaving and it was much easier to deal with two people than with three. What the other stallion, one of the other stallions, had said didn’t really clear up why the first one was going, but all the other words had half driven that fact out of her head, for the time being at least. Issues. Maybe later she would ask about that but for now...
“I’m Salomé,” the red-coated mare said with a nod. “You all have very interesting names,” she added once she had run them over in her head again. A lot of Xenos. Well. Presumably their parents had liked the name XenoWhateverEnding. Personally she was quite happy with Salomé.
...Salomé? How did she knew that was her name? Nobody had ever told her... Had she picked it, or had somebody said it while she was in her fruit? She had no idea at all, but it was a good name either way so it probably didn’t matter too much. Annabelle liked it too.
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Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 12:08 pm
Xenostrate snorted. He would not have called his name interesting, more like 'abominable' or 'horrific'. First off, it matched the names of his two brothers, and second, it was a girls name. Xenophon never let him forget this fact.
"Sure, interesting," he answered. Xenodoros looked on. Both were completely clueless as to the events going on in her head or they might have left right then.
Xenodoros yawned again. "Interesting?" He paused. "Well, I guess so." He'd never thought about it too deeply. He never really tought about much in depth. "It is funny they all start with 'Xeno." He looked towards his brother.
"Does it mean anything?"
Xenostrate gave him a look that said 'ask again and die', so Doros let the subject drop. Strate was a pile of grumpy rubble, as Ophie would say.
"Your name sounds like 'So Alone'," Xenodoros answered. "With an e."
The stupid things his sibling came up with never ceased to amaze Xenostrate. "If our presence here upsets you, we can leave." She'd given him no signals that said they were so, but the Bae always found it necessary to ask.
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Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 12:50 pm
Salomé flicked one ear forward and one ear backward, frowning in concentration. “Soalone?... Uuuhh... I guess.” Dearest Gods this guy was a nut case. Turning away from the crazy brother, the gold-eyed mare gave a hesitant smile to the sane one. “No... you seem nice. I don’t often get to talk to people. A lot of people don’t like me.” They did seem nice, even if one was crazy and another had left. Still, many people were very good at seeming, so Annabelle said.
I think they’re okay.
Salomé relaxed a notched at the return of the voice; that was good. Alright, Anna wasn’t sure just yet but her initial assessments were usually right.
Of course I am, you big silly, now don’t you worry. I’ll tell you if I think something’s up.
Sending mental thanks to her friend, the black-hooved crossbreed turned her attention back to the pair of apparently harmless Bae. “I guess maybe your parents just wanted everyone to know you’re related... But that’s a bit obvious anyway so... I guess maybe they just liked the sound of it?” That was the best she could come up with.
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Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 1:09 pm
Lacking in brains was more like it. He was sweet enough, kind enough, he just didn't quite go along with his brothers intelligent conversations. He'd been more interested in playing with the butterflies in his youth - for reasons not entirely secretive.
"Its probably your crossed blood," Xenostrate explained. It was amazing how many crossbreeds didn't know how much their kind was loathed. Well, maybe it was more feared. He was certain that Xenophon feared them, and mutant on top of it? It was enough to hurtle the poor boy overboard. Hah. Poor. Funny.
"Plus, you have a rather terrifying horn," Xenodoros butted in again. "And tail blades." Though he picked up on the 'stating the obvious', he didn't have Xenophon's charming way of putting it. Normally he stayed quiet, behind the woodwords, but it looked as though Xenophon had gotten him riled up - in just enough time for him to leave. Now Xenostrate was stuck with him for the day.
"I think," Xenostrate mused. "Our mother just had a cruel sense of humor." He shook his head. "If our father had let her, she might have just named us all the same thing and applied numbers for her own sake."
Yes, their mother, and her happy go-lucky nature. Xenophon was very much like her, and it was aggravating.
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Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 1:22 pm
The mare twisted her neck about to inspect the ends of her tails. “Eeeeyea,” she agreed with a nod. “I guess they’re kinda scary looking, I’ve never really thought about it though because they’ve just always been there...”
Their mother had been cruel? No, a cruel sense of humour was a different thing. The results of it were a little puzzling to deal with though; she wasn’t good at names at the best of times and now with so many similar ones to deal with... Well maybe she’d just look at the one she wanted to talk to, that would probably work.
“I didn’t know my mother or father she commented to the pair of Bae with a slight smile. I think I must have picked my own name... Well, if I didn’t and I got it some other way I like it as much as if I’d picked it myself. My friend Annabelle likes it too...”
Oops... Should she not have mentioned her friend to the stallions? What if they knew Them and told? She hoped they didn’t and wouldn’t, she didn’t want to get her friend into trouble with a slip of the tongue... The voice had gone away again. She didn’t know if that meant Anna was just busy, or if the Aeri Ichsa cross was angry with her for mentioning her. Hoping it was the former, Salomé rustled her wings for a moment or two before forcing herself to still them and waiting for a response. Anna had said they seemed okay, so it was probably fine... Right?
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Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 9:56 pm
Xenostrate briefly imagined what he could to with a set of tails like that. Horrible, wonderful things. Things that Xenophon would inevitably frown about. It was one thing that Xenodoros had over his brother - the ability to understand the necessity of violence. Not that the innocent Nequus would cause any harm or ail, but he did not frown and bicker upon the stupidity of it all.
Had Xeostrate had Xenophon's inborn fear and near loathing of crossbreeds he might have struck out at the mare, or chased her away. Xenophon, however, would simply forget he had ever met her. Though he would no doubt loathe her for all his life, he would never throw out a hair to harm her. What a twisted little soul Xenophon was.
Those thoughts aside. . .
"It's always good to like your name," Xenostrate answered with a well-practiced smile.
Xenodoros added some more information. "Xenostrate does not like his." It would have been an explanation if Xenstrate had been frowning, which he often was. Now, however, it seemed out of place, which was why everyone considered Doros slightly off his rocker. What he said, and when he said it, was completely out of the ordinary.
If they had heard the name Annabelle they did not comment on it. Friends were normal in the Nequus world, so it did not stand out or give any warning signals. The fact the sentence seemed unfinished unnerved Xenostrate a little and he gave a glance to see if anything had caught her attention. Maybe it was just another Nequus grazing nearby? She said she did not talk to many people, and her experiences might have made her a tad nervous. Understandable.
"I doubt anybody will tossle with you while the two of us are here," Xenostrate comforted, but his ears swivelled all the same.
Xenodoros had found a flower and contented himself with counting the petals. Xenostrate was not entirely convinced of that one's sexuality, either.
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Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 7:05 am
Salomé relaxed and smiled at the Bae. “That’s good, people always seem to be out to get me...” She trailed off once more and watched the second Bae count the petals of a flower. Why was he doing that? What was special about that flower? Was it a magic flower? Could he talk to other people though it? Perhaps there was a fairy living in it that would take messages for him, that seemed quite likely. Come to think of it, what had he said his brother didn’t like is name? The other stallion had said and done nothing to indicate that. He was weird, worryingly weird. Even if the brother who was taking to her was nice that one was weird.
Yes, there’s a fairy in the flower but she’s asleep right now, and she’s a nice fairy anyway. Even if he was telling her bad things she couldn’t give us away. Tomorrow when she’s awake we shall have to go and talk to her, I’m sure she’d be our friend.
Salomé brightened somewhat at this and turned back to Xenostrate. “Is your bother being silly, or do you not like your name? You could always give yourself a different one if you wanted. Maybe something that doesn’t begin with Xeno even.” It must get very confusing for them, all practically having the same name. Their mother must have had a very cruel sense of humour, Salomé decided.
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Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 10:12 am
Xenostrate didn't doubt it. Especially with the Katilenuck running about. They wouldn't take kindly to Salome at all.
Xenostrate laughed. "Its much more difficulat to change your name when you have two brothers that will call you nothing else." One would think it was easy to just simply switch it around, but it was hard to learn to respond to anything else. Not to mention, Xenophon would outright refuse. What would his birth-mother think, besides? She seemed to like their names so much. She was such a troublesome parent.
"But no, I'm not fond of my name. Its a girl's name." It was true, and his mother had often snickered over the fact. Xenophon had gathered it up and made it ten times worse.
Xedoros had moved on to a purple flower, which he plucked and put between his teeth. "I picked you a flower," he said, his face all smiles as he offered it so Salome.
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Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 11:04 am
The red mare giggled. “A girl’s name? Really? Well it doesn’t sound like it if that’s any help...”
At this point Salomé trailed off as her attention switched to the other brother. She blinked at the proffered bloom a few times, sniffed uncertainly at it and offered the Bae who held it an uncertain smile. “Thank you, nobody ever picked me a flower before... err... what... what exactly do you do with flowers that people give you?”
She knew that flowers were nice to eat in general, but it might be rude to eat a flower that somebody else had given you. She hoped it wasn’t a very silly question, there seemed to be so many things she didn’t know that she ought to know. Still, it wasn’t her fault nobody had ever told her these things.
“It’s a very pretty flower,” she added as an afterthought, because it was. All lovely shifting shades of purple, swirling in and out of one another but always remaining within the confines of the petals. A very pretty flower indeed.
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