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 Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 4:15 pm
As he hit the ground, the purple Jala stallion folded his wings close to his body. He had been traveling by wing ever since he had left the Jala mare, Bastet, in Quirne. She had been unwilling to become his father's mate and he had talked her around. He hadn't completely convinced her, but enough that he had eased her feelings about Diego. However, he wanted his father to be prepared and to know the situation at hand before he was confronted by the mare once again.
Udi adjusted his wings slightly and looked up at the sky. The sun was going down but there was still enough light to see by. He was glad he left the mare when he did, any longer and he would have been traveling in the dark. He wasn't sure when the mare would be coming back, but he needed to talk to his father before that time came.
Looking around, Udi noticed the outline of his father and, as his eyes adjusted, recognized the familiar markings and colors. Carefully he stepped over the ground, avoiding a rock here and there, and made it to where his father stood. "Evening father," He said with a slight nod in greeting. It had been a while since he had seen Diego, however he had not changed much. He looked slightly older, but still healthy and in good shape as far as he could tell. "How have you been?" It seemed best to start with some simple conversation. The mare would not be back tonight, and there was no need to rush his visit.
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Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 7:31 am
“I’ve been better, I’ve been worse,” the Jala said eventually with a lopsided smile. “Everybody here does insist on sucking up to me so... it’s rather disturbing to be honest. Still, could be worse, at least I’ve your grandfather to talk to and your uncle for company.” Because his brother was not a conversationalist. Oh no. Where he, Diego, had been blessed with brains, his elder sibling had been blessed with heart. No brains there, none at all. That was why he really ought to stay here. If he didn’t, his father would have nobody to pass the herd to and his sire was getting on rather now. It would been had always been planned. His brother, the figurehead, and himself the advisor making all the real decisions.
Smiling fondly at the thought of his dim sibling and shaking away the thought that he was essentially stuck here now, Diego looked Udi over carefully. His gold-eyed son looked well but you never did know and it had been a while; doubtless the younger stallion had some stories to share at least. Doubtless he would rather share them with his mother, but the blue-eyed Jala understood that and didn't mind all that much anymore. The pair of purples had more in common with one another than he had with either of them, that was all. Still, he’d probably be willing to share with his sire nonetheless, he was a good lad like that was Udi.
“So how have you been?” Diego asked with a flick of his bob tail at a buzzing fly. “You certainly look well,” he added with a smile.
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Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 3:47 pm
Shaking his head a little Udi thought a few moments before he replied. "I've been better. At the moment I just got back from a trip to Quirne." He was about to go on, tell his father of Bastet, but he decided not to. Not just yet. It seemed a little early still to be bringing that up. He studied his father a few moments and decided it could wait a little longer. His father seemed to be tired, as if he had been working a little too much and too hard lately. He also slightly suspected it had to do with the herd, especially since they seemed to refuse the fact that Diego had changed.
Then again, how long could Udi wait? It was something his father needed to know. It wouldn't be any easier on him then when the situation had first popped up, but at least he could settle his sire's thoughts a little. "While I was in Quirne," he started, yet he was still rather unsure of how to continue on. "Look, father.." Oh why couldn't he come up with the right words? Finally he let out a little sigh. "I met an interesting mare in Quirne, one that we should talk about."
It wasn't worded the best, hell it was more of an impulse than anything else. But at least he tried to give Diego a little more time to absorb his words before Udi spilled the whole story. He still wasn't completely sure how his father would take the news, or even how he would handle bringing the mare, Bastet, up. In all honesty he wasn't even sure how his father felt about the entire situation. Was he angry about it? Upset? How would he react? Well there was really only just one way to find out. "If you have a moment I have some news for you."
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Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 7:48 am
Now if his other son, that proud git, had said such words to him Diego would have grinned knowingly. As it came from Udi however he canted his head to the side with interest instead. An interesting mare, eh? Whatever could the purple stallion mean by that. Well, there was only one way to find out. The blue-eyed stallion chuckled softly and nodded. “I seem to have little but free time of late,” he said with a nod, settling himself down comfortably in the grass.
“Please, do go ahead,” the golden Jala added with a smile, flicking his short tail and stretching out his wings before settling them back by his sides. “I’d love to hear of something that isn’t just petty gossip for a change,” he added with a snort and a shake of his head.
Maybe things would be better once he was in charge of the herd in that respect; he would be too busy for people to bother him with gossip. The sucking up however wouldn’t change... thinking of it it might even worsen. Though nobody said anything about it, he suspected that it was common knowledge that his brother would be a figurehead only. Perhaps that was one of the reasons people had always sucked up to him so much. Not only had he once reacted pleasingly to it where his brother had been politely bemused by it, but from a young age it had been clear that he would one day be the mind that made the herd’s choices.
Wondering how he hadn’t managed to think of that before, the blue-eyed stallion waited for his son’s tale to begin; it sounded quite important from the way he’d phrased it.
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Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 8:14 pm
The golden tailed Jala stallion stood a few moments in thought. His father didn't seem to suspect that the mare he had met was Bastet, in all reality he didn't think his father had a clue Udi even knew what the mare looked like. However, his siblings had been informing him, it was rather hard to avoid herd gossip, especially when a few of his siblings seemed to be so involved in it. Well, he really couldn't keep his father waiting even longer. Udi didn't have a whole lot to talk about with his father, and he hadn't ever had any major conversation with him.
"Well," He started, "I've been informed of the situation between you and the mare Bastet," Oh he rather wished he had a better way with words. He could get himself out of a situation by coming up with excuses fairly well, but as far as regular conversation went, well, he just wasn't all that great. "Anyway while I was flying about Quirne I noticed an odd looking Jala mare on the beach. She had the interesting tiger stripes that I had heard about, so I stopped to talk with her."
He paused a moment, letting his words sink in a little before he continued. He wanted to be sure that his father understood who the mare really was. "Well, I stopped to talk with her, and confirmed my thoughts. I mentioned who I was and she seemed to be a little tense. Having already figured she had her own opinions of you, I tried to persuade her a little." Pausing again, he tried to come up with the right words. "I brought her around a little, not all the way, but I think the situation should be much better. She said she would stay out a week or so more but she would be coming back." He stoped then and waited for his father's reply.
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Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 6:27 am
Bastet? Udi had seen that Gods awful mare? Well, at least it didn’t look as if she’d decided to start a fight with the young stallion, violent wench that she was. As his son finished speaking, Diego sighed heavily and smiled wearily. “Well, that was a bit of good luck, spotting her like that... thank you. Even the slightest change in her opinions on me will help next we meet. I just hope she’s not quite as crazy as she came off when I spoke to her.”
No matter what the spotted Aeri mare’s messenger had said, the golden stallion had had his doubts that the striped Jala would return. Now, it seemed, she would. Well, that wasn’t so bad; she was pretty and had seemed intelligent. Perhaps he could befriend her in the end. Still, if she stayed away he gathered he would probably be placed with her younger cousin. Though he had not met her, the blue-eyed stallion had heard that she was quite a sweet young thing. Very young, though, so even if Bastet was as nutty as a squirrel’s hoard it was for the best; Gods knew the idea of being mated to somebody just about young enough to be his daughter made his flesh crawl.
“How did she seem to you?” the sleek-formed Jala asked his son abruptly. “Did she seem like... like somebody you could come to like?” Perhaps their meeting had been too short to tell, perhaps the black and purple female had been too overwrought or angry or some such for Udi to get a feel for her character but still... Still. He could hope. If Udi found her somebody he could come to like that boded a lot better for the future than if he found her detestable.
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Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 9:18 am
He thought a moment on that. In all honesty the meeting had been too short to give an honest and definate answer, but he still had an idea. "Well, for the most part it was a short meeting, I told her your story and then we parted ways." How had she acted though? She had been rather suprised at first to see him. The mare hadn't seemed angry, just startled, and she had listened to his story all the way through without even once interupting him. Then, after he had told his story, she had even seemed as if she was taking in consideration all that he had said.
"I landed before her and startled her somewhat. I doubt she was expecting to run into any of your kin. In any case I asked her if she had a few moments and I then explained how you had changed." He remembered that conversation still. It hadn't been the best one he'd ever come up with. Udi wasn't so great at telling stories, or coming up with the right words, he was actually suprised his point had come across so well. "She listened to me quite intently. Never once interupting. She even seemed to soften a little when I was done. Said something about how she had judged you too quickly."
That was probably what suprised him the most. He had been hoping to get it into her head that his father wasn't all that bad, but hadn't ever expected something like an apology. "We parted then. I'm still not really sure about her, but if she seemed to be willing enough to reconsider her thoughts then perhaps you could grow to like her." He stretched his wings a little. Flying all day tended to make them a bit stiff and a little sore. He could always leave again tonight. But perhaps he ought to stay here.
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Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 9:44 am
The golden stallion gave a relieved smile. Perhaps she wasn’t a psychotic b***h after all, perhaps the circumstances of their first meeting and her preconceptions of him had driven her to anger and desperation and violence. “Well that’s good to hear,” the blue-eyed stallion said with a nod, watching as Udi flexed his wings. Doubtless the purple was tired from his long flight, poor lad.
“I suppose she’ll be here fairly soon then,” Diego observed after a moment, clambering to his hooves. “I should go and inform father of that I suppose... but maybe not just yet.” The blue-eyed stallion gave his son a smile. “I think he can wait to hear this long enough for us to go and get something to eat; the two-legs brought some baskets of fruit to us this morning if you’re interested.” He hoped so; he didn’t often get to spend time with Udi. True they had little in common and often little to talk about but that didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy the younger stallion’s company. Sometimes it was nice just to be with family even if you didn’t have all that much to discuss.
It would certainly keep his mind off the looming of his arranged match to the gold-eyed mare he had just had news of. Willing to reconsider she might be, he might be too but... but she was not Iona and never would be. Perhaps this was how he was to pay for his past misdeeds, to spend the bulk of his life mated to a mare he doubted he could ever truly love. Would how he felt for her change how he felt for their foals, for surely soon they would have to have them. He hoped not. He wasn’t really aware of whether or not how he felt for their mother had affected how he felt for his six now adult children. Well, doubtless he would find out soon enough; his father and Bastet’s father had been patient for quite a long while now. They would want results soon, affection for their respective offspring or no.
Sighing faintly to himself, the short-maned Jala turned his blue eyes back onto his son and offered the gold-tailed Nequus a smile. At least he still had his six, and at least he still had Iona’s love even if it wasn’t the sort of love he felt for her. Things wouldn’t be all that bad in the end, surely.
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Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 10:08 am
The golden tailed Jala let out a small sigh. Just the thought of some fresh fruit sounded wonderful. It would also mean a little more time to spend with his father too. He felt a little sorry he had never really gotten to know Diego. Had he ever hurt his father by staying more with his mother? No, he doubted he had. He was pretty sure Diego understood the connection he had with his mother and doubted there were any hard feelings there. Though, that didn't mean he couldn't spend some time with him now.
"That sounds excellent if you don't mind my sharing your food." It had been a while since he'd really indulged. Grass was fine, but it was the only thing he had eaten on his journey. Grass, grass, grass, grass, and... oh yeah more grass. He groaned a little at the thought of having to go back to eating the same thing day after day. And not just once a day either, oh no at least twice. Yes, fruit definately sounded wonderful.
Carefully he stepped about any rocks that might make him stumble and worked closer to his father, so as to follow him. "Anything new going on in the herd? Or with the family? It's been a while since I've heard much gossip. Especially without any siblings around to help spread it." He saddened a little at that thought. It had been a while since he had seen his sister Aquila. If possible he was even closer to her than he was to his mother. Oh well, he thought, at least he could see her later after all of this herd stuff was resolved.
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Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 10:34 am
Diego chuckled at his son’s words and gave a tiny shake of his head. “What’s mine is yours, lad, no fears there; so far as I or anyone else is concerned you’re part of this herd when you wish to be and not when you don’t. I suppose that is one advantage to my popularity.” As they set off towards the copse where Diego knew his father was keeping the baskets of fruit, he frowned thoughtfully at the predominately purple Jala’s question.
“Well, not a lot’s new with the herd that’s important,” he said with a wing shrug to indicate that gossip was as rife as ever and that some people had probably decided that the sky was really green and that there was a big conspiracy to cover it up going on. “As to the family, little enough news there too. Everyone was well last I heard, oh, and Aquila came by today. She had some business up with the humans, but she’ll be back in a day or two if you’d like to hang about and meet up with her.” He suspected Udi would; those two had always been close even from their first few days of life and Diego was glad to that. Every Nequus should have a friendship like he knew Aquila and Udi had.
As they walked onward, Diego took his attention away from the smoothing terrain and studied the gold-eyed stallion at his side. Truly it was too seldom he spent time with his family these days. Changing his course somewhat so that he was walking slightly closer to the other Jala’s side, the golden creature gave his fellow Nequus a smile. “It’s good to see you again, Udi,” he commented as they moved on towards dinner and, perhaps, even a little more conversation.
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Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 10:52 am
Ah, his father new him well. The news of Aquila brightened his mood a little. If she was going to be back in a few days then he would wait for her. He knew he was always welcome in the herd, even though there were those who tried to avoid him. It was a little hard for others to try to understand his choices. That was probably why he was so close to his mother. She knew what he was going through and Aquila didn't condemn him for his choices, in fact, she rather seemed to approve. As long as he was happy he hadn't known her to even make any remark that would hurt him.
He stretched once more and then moved to follow his father. His stay wouldn't be a long one, unless for some reason he was held up. But he would make the most of it and see the ones he loved before he left. Especially his sister Aquila. He had to trot a little to keep up with Diego, he might be older than Udi but he still had spark left in him. Then again, with the thought of food ahead that was usually enough to speed anyone up. He chuckled a little to himself and then followed his father.
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