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 Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 6:03 am
Spyke rolled onto his back and inspected the world upside down. It wasn't any more interesting than rightside up.
The colt flopped onto his flank with a theatrical sigh.
The other occupant of the cave did not so much as stir, so the colt clambered to his hooves and paced over to it. He gave it a prod with one hoof and got a grumble of displeasure but no more. So. No joy there then. Well that was parents for you.
Sighing ti himself, the blue-backed Ichsa turned away and trotted towards the mouth of the cave. If his father wasn't going to be entertaining he would have to find some other way to occupy his time. How hard could that possibly be?
Ears perked forward and tendril wings folded against his sides, the blue-eyed youth stepped out into the night, turned off to his left and set off at a canter. Surely there was something interesting happening in Qurine tonight and, one way or another, Spyke intended to find it. Sleep was for losers.
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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 6:15 am
Moon.
Was it a living creature, changing itself for its own purposes or for the delight of those down below it? Maybe. What else but things alive could change like that?... Well, the sea could. Perhaps it was a big round silver sea that changed shape with its peculiar tides.
Moon.
Whatever it was, it was very pretty and holding her full attention. Tails hung limp, wings half drooped in a relaxed manner and the mare stared upwards. Living moon, sea moon, lovely moon. Perhaps one day she would fly up there and see for herself, once her wings were strong enough to take her all that way in any case. It would probably take weeks to reach it, and there wouldn't be places to rest on the way. Still. One day. One day she would go and see it up close.
Salome chuckled softly to herself and tilted her head to take it in at a different angle.
Moon.
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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 6:24 am
It was the bright colours he saw first, clear to him even in the darkness of night. She, he thought it was a she, was staring up at the sky, her eyes distant. Well, at least now he could have some company and perhaps the Jala would even turn out to be interesting company. Well, only one way to find out.
Whickering a greeting, the colt trotted on towards the feather-winged form. It was unusual to see a Jala up at night from what he'd been told, perhaps she was just an odd one though... Actually... Actually she looked a bit odd. Very odd.
Actually, she wasn't a Jala.
Spyke came to a halt and stared at the crossbreed before him.
Ooooooh dear.
Crosses. Be careful of crosses, stay away where you can, watch your back where you can't. They're... different. They think different. They're not right. Their parents must have been daft. Be careful of them, just be careful of them. They're bad news.
Gulping nervously, the brown-winged colt watched the looming shape turn about to regard him with its golden eyes. Well. it was a bit late to stay away now, so he'd just have to be careful.
He wished his father were here.
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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 6:32 am
Well, well now she had a little friend, didn't she? That was nice. He was an Ichsa. Anna was half Ichsa. He was small and young and he had a little silver-white horn. Like the moon. Maybe he was friends with it, if it was indeed alive...Hum. He'd stopped. Maybe it was her turn to walk over a bit now; who knew what etiquette was like among friends of the moon?
Smiling at the little colt, Salome trotted forward with her ears perked up. "Hi there," she called with a nod, stopping a polite distance away from him. "I'm Salome, who're you?"
He looked a bit nervous, poor thing. Maybe this was his first time away from the moon, maybe he usually lived here and was just visiting Urin. So the moon was a place then? Did it really change shape through the month or was it just that sometimes the place gave off a bright light and other times it didn't? Perhaps when the people from the moon came down to Urin it went duller, because their bright whiteness was gone. That made sense.
How lucky she was to meet somebody from the moon! Anna would be so jealous of her for this, she would have to remember all of the conversation very well so that she could report back to her friend on the little moon boy.
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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 6:45 am
...Okaaaay, so far so good; no murderous rages or cackling or anything of the kind. Still, he supposed it was a bit silly to imagine that they'd be like that; that was like a villain out of one of the silly stories that travelers seemed to insist on telling him. They were fun to listen to, he had to admit, but they weren't real; life wasn't really like that. Sometimes the bad people could seem perfectly nice until it was too late, he supposed.
"Err... Hi." Good start, good start. "I'm... I'm Spyke." What harm could she possibly do him just because she knew his name? It seemed safer to tell her than to not; being polite to the tall, strong looking creature was definitely a bright idea, especially taking her horn into account.
...It wasn't right either.
He'd see a Reya, and though her horn was more like that than an Ichsa's it wasn't quite right. Reyas didn't have spiked tails, either. Maybe, the colt considered as he repressed a shudder, that was what happened to you when you had mixed blood. Again, he had to admit that it felt a bit like a story, to paint the villain evil looking, but this time it did seem to be at least a bit real. Perhaps the stereotype of an evil Nequus was right after all. Perhaps the cackling and the rage would start soon and here he was with short legs and as yet mostly useless wings.
Perhaps next time he was bored he'd think of something to do inside the cave. If he was in there, he'd be with Dad and he'd be safe. As it was, the adult Ichsa was fast asleep some minutes away. He'd have to dig himself out of this little mess alone, and he could manage that, right? Right. No problem. Hopefully.
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Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 5:10 pm
Salomé chuckled softly. Spyke. What a charming name he had. Spyyyyke. Like the little horn on his little head. “Hello Spyke, you’ve come a long way, haven’t you?”
Those little wings must be stronger than they looked to make it all the way down from the moon. Or maybe he’d fallen most of the way. Or maybe he’d glided. Little moon child. Did he have a parent somewhere? She looked. No. No there were no adults but herself. Perhaps he’d got lost on his way down. Perhaps he needed a friend, that made sense. Everyone needed a friend, and he clearly wasn’t one of Them. He was an innocent little moon boy who’d lost his family. Poor little moon colt.
“Do you need a friend, little moon colt?” Salomé asked with a smile and a tilt of her head. Moon. Moons. Moooooon. He must have come from the moon currently in the sky though, otherwise why would he be here tonight?
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Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 5:20 pm
...What? Moon? Where on Urin had she got that from? Clearly, he was not dealing with a normal mind here, but what else could he have expected from a crossbreed? They were all mad, bad or both from what he knew. So... so what should he do? Play along?... But what then if he slipped and said something that didn’t fit with... with whatever she thought he was. Moon colt.
He definitely needed to find things to do in the cave when he was bored in future. Where was his riruy? He was no coward, and usually had all the common sense of a blade of grass but even he could see that this was a situation that was bad, and that could not be dealt with by guts alone. Still, perhaps luck would serve him. He had to hope so.
“...Uhmmmmm... Do you need a friend, crossblood?” Had that been a good thing to say? He hoped so; no way could he get away from her if she attacked. Best he could hope for was to yell really loudly and hope his sire heard and arrived to save him. Still, for now, best to just see what she did. Maybe she was too off in the head to be dangerous, and she certainly hadn’t seemed hostile... Well, he’d always been a fortunate sort, chance would drag his rump out of this after all.
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 10:35 am
Salomé considered this question carefully. Friends were, of course, always good to have, but only if you got to see them a lot. Presumably, Spyke would be going back to the moon before long and then she might not get to see him again; who knew how often moon foals usually visited Urin? Not her for starters. So, she shouldn’t become good friends with him or she’d miss him. Getting to see the moon and know that he was probably there wouldn’t be quite the same as how she got to talk to Anna whenever she wanted to.
“Well, I have friends actually but thank you for asking. I expect you’ve got friends up on the moon, right? Still, we can talk and be sort-of friends until you go back there, right?” Even if they weren’t going to be friends forever like her and Anna, it was nice to have somebody who wasn’t judging her for once. True he had called her crossblood and he looked a bit nervous but that was probably just because he was a long way from home and as to the calling crossblood bit... well, maybe you usually called strangers by their breed up on the moon or something.
“Will you be staying long, Spyke?” the gold-maned mare asked, taking a step forward and smiling down at the little colt. Such a sweet little face he had, and pretty bright blue eyes.
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 10:44 am
The white-horned youth grinned nervously and took a step backward. “Umm... Not very long. Can’t stay away too long see... Jus’ down ‘ere on my way from one moon to the other, see? Visiting some friends over there, needed a half way point t’ stop at for a breather.”
Mad as a pair of Rit cubs she was, and she seemed intent on getting closer to him. Great. Just great. He should have stayed in the cave with his sire or at least nudged the elder Nequus to let him know where he was going... But he hadn’t, and now he had to deal with the consequences. At least she didn’t seem violent just yet, so long as he was careful she might not go berserk and try to rend his flesh with that wicked looking horn or those bladed tails.
Spyke took another few paces back through the sand as the red mare continued to pace towards him and gave a slight shiver. “So... I... guess you’ve never been to the moon then, either moon that is?” Yesh, that was pathetic; he was usually so good at just chatting to people. Maybe it had something to do with that horrible horn and the sleek strong muscles he could see shifting under her hide. Still, pathetic small-talk was probably better than none; might get her to pause in her advance to think or something. You never knew your luck, after all.
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 10:51 am
Oh, well that was a shame; she had hoped to be able to ask him some questions about his home and report his answers back to Anna. Still, seeing a moon boy in the first place was a good tidbit and she also knew that it was easier for him to get from one moon to the other by dropping down to Urin. Maybe when the moons were closer together or when he was bigger and had stronger wings he would be able to make it in one go, and maybe that was why you didn’t seen many moon people; they had no need to come down to the lands below them.
“No,” the gold-stockinged mare said with a shake of her head, “never been. I’d like to go someday though, I’m sure it’s very pretty up there...” He was still moving away from her, and all she wanted was a closer look at him. Was she really that scary looking... Well, he was a small colt; maybe moon people never got all that tall and she looked like a giant or something. Salomé grinned to herself at that thought; tall, yes, but not a giant at all, lots of people were taller than her. Lots of Aeri were at any rate, and the odd one from other breeds save Bae.
“So... why can’t you stay down here long then?” the Jala-winged cross asked, coming to a halt at last so as not to scare the little moon child with her great size any further than she already had.
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 10:59 am
“Err...” Think fast! Come up with an answer before she thought he hadn’t heard and came to shout in his ear or thought he was being rude and came to kick him!
“I’d... get... Well I’d get stuck, right?” Phew, now just to keep blabbering like mad and hope his tongue knew what it was going. “Yea. If y’ stay down ‘ere too long y’ can’ get back t’ the moon. Most people from Urin are stuck and can’t get up there, but a few manage it and bring different colours up to us which is how I happened. Those of us who get stuck bring colour down too; most of your white or silver Urin-dwellers will ‘ave moon blood back in their line somewhere, but don’ tell them because it’s a secret, right?”
Wow, his tongue did know what it was doing, which was more than he could say for the rest of him. She’d be expecting him to fly off up to the moon soon, and he couldn’t actually fly at all yet. Bugger, whatever the word meant, buggerity bugger. Spyke gave the scarred mare a slightly manic grin and scrabbled desperately for a way out of the hole he was in the process of digging for himself.
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 11:11 am
“Oh.” Not everyone could go there?... Well it made sense or people would be off to the moons all the time. Still, she was special with her magic and her ability to talk to Anna wherever either of them were so maybe she’d be one of the lucky ones who could go and visit the moons. If not, at least she’d met somebody from them and now she knew something very interesting about white and silver Nequus.
She would, of course, tell Anna the secret about them, her friend had some silver herself, but that was as far as the telling would go and surely it would be okay for Anna to know.
“Well, I’ll try to get there someday anyway,” Salomé said with a firm nod. “If I don’t try I’ll never know, and I do very much want to know if I can get to the moons or not... How soon do you have to go then, Spyke?”
Maybe that was why he was nervous; he didn’t want to get trapped away from his home, friends and family poor thing. She really shouldn’t keep him if he had to leave no matter how curious she was; she’d never forgive herself if he got stuck because of her.
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 11:18 am
Yes! A way out, and he even had a plan. Unless she was a very sharp-eared sort she wouldn’t hear his little hooves over the shushing of the waves that washed up and down the sand so all he had to do was get her to close her eyes...
“Erm, actually I need to go right now,” Spyke said with a rapid series of nods. “Got m’ breath back now, wings all nice an’ rested so I should really do. I dunno what the time limit f’ stayin’ down ‘ere is, an’ I’d rather not find out the hard way, y’ know?...” Now what to say? How to get her to not look... Well, she seemed like quite a trusting and gullible sort so maybe, just maybe, it wouldn’t be too difficult.
“Umm... would you close y’ eyes please? I kinda get stage fright s’ far as flying goes. Jus’ close y’ eyes an’ count to an ‘undred an’ I’ll be gone, okay?... Nice t’ meet you Salomé.” It hadn’t been, not in the least, but the more kindly disposed towards him she felt, the more likely she was to shut her eyes and keep them shut. Internally praying that the mixed blood would cooperate, Spyke waited for her response with his heart hammering in his chest like a heard of Aeri galloping in step.
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 11:23 am
Aww, how sweet! Salomé grinned broadly and bobbed her head in assent. “Sure thing Spyke,” she chuckled, “can’t be any fun being nervous about flying when you’re trying to get home, or to see your friend, right?”
Maybe she would spot him again on his trip back to the other moon and have a chance for a brief chat again; that would be nice, he was a nice boy. Grin softening to a smile, the gold-maned mare closed her eyes.
“It was nice to meet you too Spyke,” she said with another nod, “I hope your trip is alright and that you find your friend once you get up there. Bye bye!” Okay, now to count off the time until she could open her eyes again. “One, two, three, four, five, six...”
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 11:36 am
As the mare closed her eyes and began to count, Spyke wheeled about and set off back the way he had come as swiftly as he dared, the numbers that she spoke running through his mind like knives. It wasn’t all that far to go back to his home-cave, but until he was there he would be very much on edge, afraid even.
How, the young Ichsa wondered as he stretched his stride a little as he drew further away from the blade-tailed creature, could he have been stupid enough to approach a complete strange all by himself? His sire always counseled caution on the matter of strangers but he’d never really taken the words on board. Strangers could be dangerous, his father had said, and he’d just nodded along and said ‘yes riruy’ like he always did. Well perhaps now he had learned his lesson. Perhaps he would be more careful in future... Perhaps he would just be sure whatever he was approaching wasn’t an obvious crossbreed in future. Yes, that would work.
Pleased with himself for thinking of this solution, the brown-coated colt galloped on homewards. When he reached the familiar cave, he scurried hurriedly inside and skidded to a halt at the end of four long grooves in the sand. Panting and shivering, the colt moved to the back of the cavern and, with one glance over his shoulder, dropped to the ground and nestled closely against his father’s flank.
This particular incident, he decided as he closed his eyes and sought sleep, would not be reported to the sleeping blue Nequus; last thing he wanted after an encounter like that was a big fat ‘I told you so’. Sighing heavily to himself, the foal nestled as close to his sire as he could. Now feeling much safer, the foal gave a wide yawn and settled himself down to sleep.
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