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 Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 12:43 pm
 Goodness, the tall mare had certainly needed this time to cool down after that little escapade her nephew had performed at the beach. It had left her quite shaken, especially with the knowledge that perhaps if she had sought him out sooner she could have prevented his ill tendency towards Aitumn. Still, there was little she could do about that now, and the valentines mare was quite hopeful that one day she'd be able to sort out her misinformed nephew. Such a shame she had lost track of him in D'ob, but he seemed intent in his avoidance of all other creatures, including Vierna.
Standing with a crisp, chill wind to her back the Aeri mare shook her curly mane to rid herself of these unpleasant thoughts and continued to plod along the outskirts of the human settlement. They were very fragile creatures after all, and she wasn't keen on stepping on any of them, despite all their attempts to befriend her. Not quite trusting her own large, round hooves where they stepped, she'd curl her lips back and snort them away in a funny gesture that shook her large head from side to side. Silly creatures they were, but some how relaxing for a friendly nequus to spend time with.
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Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 12:52 pm
 One of those days again where the basket had been emptied and was in need of refilling. It was a task the blood bay was happy to preform, as he had somewhat caught onto to most of the actions of the humans and could, for the most part, understand their strange gestures and expressions. Despite this expertise, he wasn't very fond of leaving Cressida and the sappling alone for very long. It must have been getting close, the five fruits it bore seemed to be growing larger nearly everyday and Aitumn was begining to feel antsy. The constant drain of energy, though mostly to Cressida, spilled over to himself and made his muscles wary. A feeling that didn't quite belong to the athletic blood bay Jala.
In definance to this feeling he urged his legs to move faster, from the soft canter he had been going at to a rythmic gallop that struck true with every stride. He didn't really mind the swinging basket between his teeth, as he was certain if any damage would come to it the humans would be able to repair the nifty thing. Another patch of sturdy trees to weave through and Aitumn was well out of Shirlal. Ryuten wouldn't be far now, and soon he would be able to return to the little family he and Cressida had started together. For of course, he would hate to miss the hatching of their foals.
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Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 1:07 pm
Certainly the months of relaxation around the humans had done her well, she was no longer fretting about this or that, or the random thoughts that popped into her head. Such things as to what Zaknafein was up to at the moment and if he had come to the correct assumption. She would love to welcome him back into her heart and her care, but that stallion just had her so irked! The large mare couldn't help but raise a large hoof and pound it into the ground below, startling quite a few of the young ones around her; to which the nequus gave an appologetic bob of her head. Silly little things that they were, easily startled it would appear.
Then again many young creatures were easily frightened, she thought as the memories of a young Zaknafein came to mind. Oh he had been such a shy little colt, always bumping noses with his elders and staying with his mum. If only she could bring that part of him back out, then maybe he would be better for it. With a flick of her curly tail the mare turned her attention to an approaching cluster of humans, one carrying a basket on its hip and the other's following closely behind it heels. Vierna noted that the one at the lead was significantly larger than the other two, and that the males behind the leader must have been youngsters; though not as tiny as the other ones she had startled. Curiously, Vierna ambled closer to follow at a distance, having indulged herself in the workings and customs of this strange race for the past coupld of months.
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Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 1:29 pm
He knew the drill. They knew the drill. Things were going smoothly just as soon as Aitumn made contact with the present humans that had come to greet him. Placing the basket at their feet, nudging them lightling in the shoulder or the chest before giving a glance to their strange dwellings, and they had a pretty good idea of what he was after. They always had quite a bit of fruit to go around, which made them a valueable resource when Aitumn himself was having particular difficulty with finding ettible substances to return to Cressida with.
Flicking his ears in their direction as they went prancing off to gather whatever they may, Aitumn quickly ducked his head to the ground and began to crop at the grass around his hooves. The run had left him somewhat tired, despite his definace for the stiff groggy feeling that had encompassed his legs and their muscles. A meal of tasty grass would do him good, would it not? At least enough to munch on while the humans were off doing what they did that is.
At the sound of returning footsteps, accompanied by the dull thud of heavy hooves, Aitumn raised his head to behold a bewildering site. He had seen the large mare rooting about on his previous trips, but he hadn't thought she had seen him, thus he had choosen to allow them their space from each other until then. Apparently that was now. Since their encounter at the beach he had choosen to mostly forget her sudden appearance, as it had often brought unwanted thoughts of Zaknafein. The very hint of a memory of the green Aeri boiled the blood bay's spirits. Still, the stallion shifted his weight to more a comfortable hoof and nickered a greeting while she was still in the distance. He was, after all, somewhat curious.
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Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 1:46 pm
As she followed after the little group of galibanting humans and their basket of fruit, one of the littler ones happened to glance over at her and was apparently startled at her size. The look of shock and the cute little open mouth expression was flattering to the Aeri, for most of her breed seemed to pride themselves in their height and their bulk, and the same was true for the valentines mare. Although she was by no means the tallest of her breed, as she had stumbled upon giants in her time, but still she was of respectable size she believed.
As they approached to where ever they were going, a nicker not to far off drew her attention from the shy little creatures to a blood bay figure with feathery wings. It couldn't possibly- or could it? The large Aeri bobbed her head upwards and loosed her own nicker of greeting, to far off to talk comfortably and not willing to shout over the distance. Aitumn! She hadn't seen him since the beach isident, and she was quite thrilled to have this oppertunity to speak with him again. There were so many things she had to tell him, of his past, of their herd, and she supposed he may want to learn more about his mother and what brought him to this herd of Aeri. After all Vierna was a wise ol' gal, and could guess at the things that may have been bothering him.
From the corner of her eye she spotted one of the young creatures stoop at the mid-section and grab something off the ground, but she was surprised to see it come trotting over. To which she had to abrubtly come to a stop, not wanting to knock into the little thing. "Oh, and what's this little-one?" She had discovered that they could neither speak nequus or understand it, so the comment was mostly to herself. Curiously she dropped her large head to peer closer to what appeared to be a closed fist, merely the size of a not yet ripe apple, and was greeted with the producing of a bunch of tasty wild flowers. Vierna gave a cheerful noise from her throat as she gingerly snapped up the flowers, to which the little human went squeeling back to the others in what she would assume was delight as they went on their merry little way towards Aitumn. Silly little things, indeed.
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Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 3:22 pm
Pricking his ears at the sound of the returning nicker, Aitumn happened to watch spectacle between the large mare and the little human colt. Quite entertaining these two-leggers, but Aitumn wasn't very fond of their company for very long and was eager to be off as soon as he was capable of doing so. Perhaps though Vierna could accompany him part-way so they could converse, though Aitumn didn't fully trust her enough to go as far into Shrilal where he had left Cressida and the tree. That was for another time, if he got to know the Aeri mare better, for it was not just she Aitumn sought to hide the location from. After the insident with Zak, he'd be wary of just about any stranger that happened upon the spot.
As the humans and Aeri approached, and the basket was placed before his hooves, Aitumn gave another nicker this time in thanks before returning his gaze to the other nequus. "Greetings. Its been awhile." Not much else he could say to the mare. On the one hoof she held the secrets to his past, on another she could turn out to be like Zaknafein. It was unlikely she was lying to him, for he had seen the effect her presence had on the psychotic green b*****d.
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Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 4:11 pm
"Indeed it has." Vierna was slower to approach than the overly excitable humans, picking her way gingerly with large round hooves to the lead the way. Clumsy hooves at that, best not to knock into anyone. Oh little Aitumn was standing in from her now, he had always been rambunctus but to the quirky Aeri he had given the other wise family-based herd some sort of interesting event at least every day. And now look at him, he had grown into a fine, strong stallion with a family of his own. If she had been the boy's mother her heart would have swelled with pride at the sight of him, but she was merely his adoptive aunt and so she had to settle for a wide grin and a bemused snort. "You never change Aitumn-deary, you still scream with spirit."
It was good part of her past still remained in this present day, even if her blood family hadn't she still had Aitumn and Zak. Though she had quite a bit of work to do with the green brute, if she could save him at all. With a bob of her head she spotted the basket of fruit once more and gave a quirk of her head in a curious manner. "Had a craving for fruit, did ya?" Of course something else came to mind, but she'd allow him to tell her before she spoke up about her assumption. Although the thought of more cute foals like Tucker made her want to squeal like a filly. Imagine, Aitumn all grown up and with a family! Comparing him to the mischevious colt he use to be was enough to make her think twice about who this stallion was.
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Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 5:06 pm
It was still odd how she talked about him as if they had known each other all their lives, and though that may have been true Aitumn could not deny the black void that was his memory. "I take it I was a handful to raise, then?" he spoke mildly, but with no hint of degridation or mistrust. The evidence was enough to appeal to his reason and logic, but still the unknown held mysteries to which he had no answers. Besides, what all could she tell him about his past? What was it like for him to growing up? Did he have any friends? Enemies, like Zaknafein? Was she secretly his enemy as well? Or did her sweet words speak truth for her intentions? These thoughts battled with each other as Aitumn worked to keep a straight face. He always did have a sense of reason behind his thoughts, and reason told him to hold on too much of his personal information or to let his guard down too quickly. But his recklessness, the wild streak that had once drove him to travel all of Urin until he saw it all, save for the mountains of Casa Tiner, spurred him into the unknown and past his doubts. He wanted to know. He had to know.
The stallion swayed slightly as his neck stooped to pickup the basket full of fruit, gripping the woven handled against the hollow in his teeth. Her comment had not gone unnoticed, though he did hesitate to answer. He decided, if she had any ill-will towards Cressida or his family, she would have joined Zak in their encounter at the beach and helped to destroy the little bit of happiness he had made for himself. "Not quite, Cressida and I are caring for a tree together," he spoke this with a swelling of his head as he raised his sleek head, basket and all. "All together the tree bears five frutis." Proud words for the loving father-to-be.
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Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 5:29 pm
Another bemused snort at his reply at the mare twitching her large forelegs up and down slightly as if she were to jog in place. Took awhile to answer his own curiousness didn't it? She supposed she should be patient with him, but she wanted to get the news out in the open before it bore a hole into her own filly attitude. "To say the least! I don't think none of us were able to keep up with you even if we tried, though Tuiro, my younger cousin, tried. Ya ran circles round that big brute even as foals," she mused, getting lost in her explanation and her memories. It was good to relive them with someone who had been there, even if the other party didn't remember. "Oh, it was so much fun watching you two grow up together, though he settled down considerablly where as you... well you were still the same Aitumn even as a young stallion", she snorted, tossing her head into the air as if to emphasize the point.
Of course she hadn't missed the little tidbit about a tree, and this time the overly exuberent mare pricked her ears whinnied her delight, her large hooves seemily to dance in place. If that were possible, for her rythim was off and it looked as if she might catch a hoof and tumble over at some points. "How wonderful! Five you say? That's an impressive amount when it comes to a couple like you and Cressida. I say, you must be proud." Certainly she was, to her Aitumn was family, and her tradition of their old herd taught her that foals were a celebration of one's happiness. Even if she didn't have Zak, she could still be proud of Little-Aitumn.
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Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 5:58 pm
H-oh? Now that sounded like him, even if he wasn't as wild with Cressida at his side the blood bay was still known for his streaks of rambunctious actions and carelessness when it came to his own body. Of course he could back up his reckless streak, for he was surefooted and quick to act quickly and change course if something proved to be miscalculated. Still, a name struck him cold as an almost vague look of remberance came to mind. "Tuiro?" he repeated. He had flashes of memory before, though they were rare and brought on mostly when he was around Zak. Tuiro. Aeri. Best friend? Yes he believed the feeling he got from speaking the name aloud, a feeling of some sort of comradory.
"Ha-ha! C'mon on pipsqueak, mum said she'll bring somethun' nice for us if we make it back in time for-"
For what? Mum? Who was mum? "Pipsqueak?" Aitumn snorted as he repeated the word aloud, a feeling of disgruntled challenge behind it. Though he wasn't sure why, the title pipsqueak seemed to bring it out of him. Still, he was curious to this 'memory' so it appeared to be. At least part of one it would seem. "Who was mum, back then I mean?" Was it his own mother, or Tuiro's? For now Aitumn merely bobbed his head and pricked his ears at Viern's excitement over the upcoming foals, perplexed by this 'memory'.
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Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 7:35 pm
Vierna gave a curious tilt of her head as Aitumn seemed to daze off into the distance for one reason or another, although what he finally said had her ears pricking. She had assumed his memory had been completely wiped from what she was told and how he didn't remember her off the bat, but maybe it was only partially so? Still she slowly nodded her head to his questioning, remembering the small Aeri stallion that had been her cousin. "Tuiro always called you pipsqueak in jest", she commented first of all. She wasn't certain if she should be some what guarded by the next question, hoping it wouldn't lead to the enevitable 'why'd my mom leave me' question. Even she didn't have all the answers to his past.
"Back then 'mum' was Turio's mother, my father's sister. She pretty much took you in more so than the rest of us, and included you in most of the things she did with Tuiro," she explained. She knew it was coming, with the way Aitumn's gaze settled off into the distant horizon. Vierna prepared herself for the oncoming of the enevitable.
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Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 7:55 pm
"Oh." So he had been taken in by an Aeri mare to raise him and his best friend. He could believe that. Especially after that brief part of a memory which had decided to grace him with its presence. He still had many questions about his supposeded best friend, but that took secondary importance after the question that was nagging at the back of his mind. What his mother. His actual mother. What was she like? What had possessed her to leave him in the care of an Aeri herd? Aitumn did not make it a habit to pity himself for having no memroy of the past, nor was he going to do so now; but his mind did wander as it often did in many situations. His dull, dark eyes shifted to the horizon as he took in the scenery of Ryuten, for he still found the natural wonders of Urin beautiful to look upon.
Finally he spoke, in a collected voice that was merely curious. "What about my real mother, why was I brought to your family?" If Vierna knew such answers that is. He'd surely like to have the knowledge for his own, but he was a guarded soul who kept personal endeavers to himself, so he would not be disappointed if it turned out she couldn't answer that.
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Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 8:05 pm
Yup, she knew it. The question had been on the tip of his tongue since the first time they saw each other on the beach, and now he had finally brought out into the open. What was she to tell him though? Surely she didn't know every angle of the situation, and merely had the mare's words to fall back on as truth. With a hefty sigh the large valentines mare stopped her shuffling and lowered her heavy head into a more relaxed postion. Might as well get comfortable, she wasn't entirely sure how the blood bay stallion before her would react.
"That's a difficult question for me to answer, Aitumn. I can only tell you what I learned from our brief encounter with each other, and the explanation she gave to our family." That was a start but not quite an answer. Vierna flicked her curly tail in thought before continuing. "She was very sickly when she came to us, thin, weak, and we surely took pity on her for the condition she was in. You were such a rambunctious colt, even I could see she wouldn't be able to raise you, and I've never had a foal of my own. I supposed she must have cared for that tree of yours all on her own, or maybe there was an illness that plagued her body, I'm not certain. She could not, physically, take care of a foal and hope to survive along with it, so she did the best thing she could. She left you in our care, where you would be sure to be raised properly and healthly." That was the reason for his mother's abandonment, and though Vierna wasn't entirely happy with the explanation, she had no more information to offer the spirited stallion.
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Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 8:21 pm
Disappointment was hard to come by when it came to Aitumn, though his gaze did slowly wander back to Vierna his expression was mostly void. He hadn't imagined what sort of situation would have drove his mother to leave him in the care of another herd, but for some reason this one just didn't seem good enough. He was a father himself, and he knew that when it came to him or his foal he would make the sacrafice of himself for their happiness. Perhaps this was a little biased, as he wasn't certain to exactly how sickly his mother had been at the time, but he couldn't help but feeling that maybe he would have had a happier life with her by his side. For one thing he wouldn't have been in this mess with Zaknafein, and he could have provided Cressida and Tucker with a more secure state of mind. Still, he would allow himself to feel pity for his situation. He was better than that, he was hollow to the selfish ideal of 'wishing for his mother'. As far his mind was concerned, he'd been on his own most of his life anyway.
Thus Aitumn merely offered a soft smile and a bob of his head as thanks for the tall Aeri mare. "I appreciate the honestly. Now if you'll excuse, I must get back to Cressida and our tree. I do not like leaving them alone for long." Them. Not only was he thinking of Cressida at the time of reference, but the fruits their tree bore. Five foals. The number still astonished the blood bay stallion, it was such a large jump from just Tucker. Would they manage alright?
Leaving his ponderings to himself, the stallion bent at the neck to better support and carry the basket between his teeth. "You'll have to come visit once the foals are born", he echoed the thought that most assuredly lingered in her mind. Yes, once they were born that would be fine, but not before. Easily the Jala pushed his hooves into a smooth jog, careful not to disturb the fruit within the Human's basket.
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