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 Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 9:40 am
 It all started with a light snowfall, one that Inali was almost able to disregard. It was mildly uncomfortable to shrug the heavy wet stuff from her red shoulders, but it wasn't anything she couldn't deal with. Then the snow began to fall heavier, and heavier, and the mare's concern began to mount. It had been such a beautiful day- the air was cool and crisp, and only a few clouds seemed to mar the vast blueness of the sky. Inali had thought it a good day for a walk, the cold air helping to keep her mind alert.
As it stood now, it was starting to get uncomfortably cold. Al though she liked this sort of weather normally, today it seemed that the wind was stronger than usual, tangling the red mare's silver mane into a series of knots that defied odds.
Looking up in concern at the sky, Inali noted that where it had previously been a chipper blue, grey clouds now coated everything of that hue. It appeared that she wouldn't have long to find a shelter before a blizzard came in. She had been lucky enough to not get caught too badly by the elements before, and having recently come out of her fit of depression, had no desire to die of the cold. Fantastic. She had worked so hard to improve herself, just to die right now? Giving a fatalistic snort, she plunged forward, hooves stirring up the snow as quickly as it fell.
Finally it appeared that she might have found some shelter in a small copse of trees that managed to block out the worst of the wind and the cold. There was even a small stone wall, clearly built by humans. Was there a settlement here once? Inali would have been curious, had that not required wandering back into the increasingly fierce winds. A blizzard appeared to be on its way, and as previously stated, she didn't quite feel like freezing to death today.
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Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 4:37 pm
 ((For reference Dominick does have a Scottish accent .. I just can't type it out right so I don't use it and it's hard for me to read my own posts sometimes when I try xD))Dominick snorted, snow ... he'd seen worse than this much, worse but he still hated the way it piled up onto his back and melted into his mane making it stringy. The wind whipping his mane into a frenzy wasn't helping his attitude about the weather much either. "Blasted winter, couldn't Armelle have found us a warm climate?" He rolled his icy blue eyes and chuckled. Looking up he too saw the threat of a blizzard hanging in the clouds and soon he two was headed into the forest in search of shelter. A cave would have been best, but he had no clue if there were any near enough to be any use to him now so Dominick wondered until he stumbled upon the small copse. He scanned the area for a moment then blinked at the sight of the red, black, silver, and white mare standing not far away. Dominick stood, taken a back for a moment before a small friendly smile crept onto his face "god evening m'lady .. so sorry for stumbling in so rudely." He dipped his head to her slightly in greeting.
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 11:24 am
Inali lifted up her head wearily, disturbed from her silent contemplation of the human made stone wall. The mystery was still plaguing her, and keeping her mind away from fully concentrating on the snow. At least it kept the cold away. Just concentrate on that Inali, she told herself, before a voice with a Scottish brogue interrupted her reverie.
Blinking away sleepy silver eyes, Inali regarded the other soquili that had been driven by the storm into her shelter. He was extremely intricately marked, and the intricacy seemed to continue into the design of his mane and tail. It was quite an interesting sight, and one she would have loved to study further in a situation far warmer and more pleasant than this.
"It's not rude at all," Inali blurted out, as surprised by his voice as by his appearance. A polite stallion? Well, that was a pleasant change, wasn't it?
"We all need to take shelter, lest we catch our deaths." Smiling wanly, Inali inclined her head, her smile growing slowly stronger with the company. It was so nice not to have to deal with this alone!
"I am Inali. I'm not terribly used to this snow. We don't seem to get nearly as much down by the water where I live." Not that it didn't get cold near the ocean. It just didn't have blizzards like this. Damned curiosity!
"Your accent... Where is it from? I'm sorry if it seems rude to asks, but it's piqued my interest." Ah well. She was curious, and they were going to be stuck together for a while anyway.
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 9:32 pm
A cold wind drove Dominick a little more into the small glade and he shifted on his silvery white hooves for a moment. "I guess we all do have to take shelter from mother nature at times don't we?." He chuckled to himself, knowing it was far more than true, even as odd as iit may have sounded. Inali? That was sure an interesting name, for an interesting mare.
"it's a pleasure to meet you Inali!" He bowed slightly in greeting "I am Dominick." So she wasn't used to this kind of cold then .. well maybe he could help her out "I'm used to worse cold than this, but I still don't like it very much at all. Me and my sister would always try and find caves to hunker down in when it started to snow in our homelands. " He nodded slightly to himself at his own logic.
Pausing from the conversation for a moment he turned his head to try and fix his damp mane and tail.
He turned back in just enough time to register her last question.
"Ooh, don't fret Inali I don't find it rude at all! I hail form Scotland ... lived near Loch Ness I did, beautiful place really .. but still far to cold, despite the snow here I do hope this lands will prove to be warmer."
He loved his homeland, but he knew he couldn't have stayed there ... to many bad memories and wounds tied to his home
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Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 10:26 am
Inali shivered once again, more of a dramatic demonstration of how cold it was than anything brought on from true internal imbalances.
"I don't remember much of my life before here. I was quite young when I got here, and as such, I grew used to the warmer weather. I don't wander up this high in the country very often. Maybe during summer, when it gets beastly hot. Never during winter. And now I know why." Inali smiled ruefully, still cursing herself for her stupidity. It wasn't as if she could have predicted the weather, but she should have still realized that it would be very, very cold the higher in elevation she went.
As Dominick talked, she cocked her head slightly. "Scotland? That sounds vaguely familiar. I think I came from somewhere very south of there. But I don't have much of an accent, I'm afraid." Indeed, Inali couldn't tell if she possessed and accent. No one had ever remarked on it, and she was inclined to think she didn't, due to coming to these lands so young. It was always difficult to tell though.
"It's warmer in lower lands. Here it's always colder, I think. It wasn't a good choice, on my part." Again Inali looked rueful. But this was enough talk of the weather. She had only so much patience for that much pleasantries.
"Did you come here with anyone else? Family? Mates? Children? We'll be stuck here for a while, so I may as well solve my curiosity as to how a handsome stallion ended up in soquili lands. "
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 4:07 pm
He listened to her silently for a moment, icy blue eyes locked on her face as she spoke. After a moment he stepped more into the small grove away from the chill beyond.
"I have heard that the place where one is raised influences their accent, so that may be why you do not have a native accent." He nodded slightly, having been raised all his life in Scotland he still retained the heavy accent of the land. His long silky tail switched back and forth over his rump. Tossing his mane he let his forelock fall into his face over one eye.
"All I really know is cold .. I doubt if I could live in an area where it is beastly hot." He chuckled to himself and shook his head, more at his own insecurity at what he was not used to.
He cocked his head "maybe it was a good choice M'lady Inali .. for had you not come to these lands we might not have meet." He grinned kindly at her again his ears flicking making the ring sin them shine.
Then his eyes widened slightly at her question .. a mate? kids? such things had never before crossed his mind , though his sister swore he would make a fine father. "W-well .. no, I have only my sister in this life." His smile was sad for a moment as his memories drifted for a moment to his parents.
"What about yourself? You must have many stallions fighting for the attentions of such a beautiful mare."
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 7:45 pm
Inali found herself blushing, though it was almost against undetectable under her red fur. She supposed the question was only fair, but she still wasn't used to stallions inquiring about her love life, or lack thereof. Ah well. He had answered with his own family tale, though he certainly had more than she did at that time.
"Oh. I... I don't." Should she bother plunging into the past? No, detail wasn't necessary. Just an outline. No one needed to hear her life story, as Inali had slowly discovered.
"That is, there's no one fighting for my attention. Not now anyway. Perhaps in the past... But I think we all make mistakes." Shrugging, Inali managed a wan smile, poking her head out into the cold again briefly, only to pull it back, snow incrusting her muzzle and tickling her so that she sneezed and laughed.
"It used to bother me more than it does now. Now I suppose the inevitability of losing suitors as I lose being so young." Ah, the age complaint again. Inali was hardly old, though she certainly wasn't a young filly anymore. Still, that shouldn't have mattered. With age comes beauty, or so the saying went.
"It must be nice to have someone though," Inali mused. "I've often regretted not having siblings, though there's not much to do about that. Maybe adopting a wayward basket, but I've never found one. Just something to establish some firm family grounding, I suppose." Inali tried to picture what a sister of Dominick would look like.
"But I'm sure if your sister is half as lovely as you, she must be a beautiful mare indeed." The words were no sooner out of her mouth than she was blushing again, her own audacity surprising her.
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 8:32 pm
His mouth fell open in shock for a moment, no lover? How ever could that be? Straightening he snapped his mouth closed and shock his head. "I do not know what is the matter with the stallion in these lands ... but they are truly fools if they don't see the value in a beautiful strong mare such as yourself." He shook his head again and his mane fluttered against his powerful neck.
He chuckled himself when she pulled her muzzle back from sticking out out only to have it covered in snow. Taking a step forward he stretched out his own muzzle and rubbed some of the snow off hers. He took a quick step back straightening up and arching his neck. At the moment he was thankful that his ebony coat hid the blush forming across his cheeks.
He cocked his head to the side for a moment he mulled over words trying to be careful about what he said since some mares could be persnickety about their age being commented on. "I find that the youth aren't as beautiful as those whom have experience life? Beauty comes from within as much as from ones appearance." He mussed again "possibly you've lost these suitors because they aren't the stallion you were meant to be with? All of us have someone out there whom can complete and stand beside us as true equal lover and friend." He nodded to himself again his pierced ears flicking.
"It is nice to have my sister ... after the loss of our parents I feared loosing her as well" he tensed slightly, he was very protective of his sister .. but this was the first time he'd told why.
"My sister is very beautiful, she looks much like me .. but in shades of light pink instead of my faded reds" he chuckled then spoke rather softly "even if she does tease me about being pink too."
Even as he spoke he was thinking then he stepped forward again and gave her neck a nudge "you can join me and my sister? I'm sure she'd love to have another mare around to speak with, it must be hard for her dealing with just an over-protective brother all the time" he chuckled.
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Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2009 12:35 pm
At the lightest of touches, the blush flared so brightly pink that it was briefly visible against Inali's dark coat. Oh dear. She wasn't used to any sort of physical contact, even something so fleeting as that. It felt delicious and warm, stirring in her feelings she thought were long dead, or at least buried under several layers of flesh. It was almost painful, but Inali quickly pushed down those thoughts. Negativity was not helpful, and besides that, he probably didn't mean it like that.
At Dominick's next words, Inali nodded gratefully. What he said was very true, though it had taken her long enough to realize that you couldn't force true love to happen, and that not every romance would work out in the end.
"I wish I had known those things when I was younger. I could have saved myself a great deal of pain and misery, if only I had opened my eyes. Ah, but the follies of youth. It almost makes me glad that I didn't find myself paired off then. I can only imagine what dysfunctional children I would have by now." Inali chuckled, as she contemplated a whole little family that marched onwards, each one as completely unhinged as their mother had been at that time. Oh gods, she would have probably been a grandmother by now, and she was NOT ready for that, thank you very much.
As Dominick spoke, Inali truly felt empathy for him. It must have been horrible to lose your family, having only one remnant left. "That's understandable. Had the same happened to me, I think I would never let her go." She would probably be the worst, all her displaced and confused motherly feelings transferred to another grown mare. But it seemed like Dominick was doing just fine. His sister wasn't there, after all. If Inali were in that situation, she had a feeling that the other soquili would be like a bur in her side, though not nearly as painful.
"Nonsense. You aren't pink! I can see the faded red in you. It's lovely. Masculine, I mean. Masculine and handsome. I mean, uh..." Voice trailing off, Inali blushed again, silver eyes casting downwards quickly before darting back up.
At Dominick's suggestion, Inali thought her heart would burst from happiness. Never mind how the offer was meant- it was an offer, and a sort of family she had never had. "I would love to meet your sister, and join you if she likes me. I... I would be honored." And where would that go? The future seemed suddenly very, very full of potentials.
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Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2009 4:57 pm
He noted the blush and the tiniest smile pulled the corner of his lips up for a brief moment. His mane of pale red and silver spun silk fell gracefully about his head when he dipped it trying to stifle the chuckle that wanted to burst up form his chest. It wasn't a mocking chuckle, he enjoyed seeing her blush ... seeing this mare happy as she seemed to have so much pain and rejection. He listened silently to her words his mouth wanting to twitch into a dissatisfied frown, yet he forced it to stay neutral.
He pawed slightly for a moment, did he dare step forward and give her another light nuzzle? The possibilities spun around in his head for a moment and he shook it making his mane rippled like the calm ocean waves.
A momentary chill ran up his spine making his entire body shudder for a brief moment. By then though Dominick had stepped forward again and swung his hind end aorund so that he was standing side by side with her. He was a good two hands taller than Inali so he dipped his head and nuzzled her right behind her ear lightly. It seemed to be nothing but a gesture to comfort a friend ... but upon closer inspection there also seemed to also be another feeling behind it, a feeling Dominick wasn't to keen on firing up completely just yet.
"Sometimes, the gods have to teach us with the pain ... pain makes us stronger, and wiser. Don't give up hope Inali there is a stallion waiting for you ..." he fell silent for a brief second "and don't frown .. because you never know whom might be falling for your smile."
He gave her another nudge before stepping away slightly to give her back her personal space again.
His smiled dipped down for a moment at the talk of his protective-ness "yes .. but I know I must let go .. she is a strong grown mare with her own will and desires that can protect herself for the most part. Besides I can always be in the shadows watching and protecting her."
He gave her a grin as she complemented his coloring "my sister likes to tease me a lot .. especially about how much I have to have the two-legs redo my hair." He chuckled, it was a prissy thing to do .. but he was very proud of his hair and so he did have to let the two-legs constantly clean and re braid it.
e grinned wide at her accepting of his offer "Oh! I'm sure Armelle will adore you! She has a very kind heart. We'll have to go find her once this storm slows down .. until then.." his icy blue eyes scanned the ground and he stepped forward into the center of the grove and began using his hooves to pile some leaves up.
Turning and moving as he did he made a circle large enough for the two of them to lay side by side in a crater of leaves. Then he stepped in and started to dig out some dirt.
After he had made a good pile and hole he turned back to her grinning, and proud of his work "if what my father told me as a foal is true ... the leaves and earth along with out body heat should provide some extra protection against the cold."
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Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 10:43 am
The lightest of touches made Inali shiver again, her mind whirling with the possibilities. No, not right now. It was far too early. She had just met him, after all! But if allowed to progress naturally... Perhaps, one day. Of course, Inali was eager to meet Dominick's sister. Hopefully they would get along as well as Dominick and Inali did, though Inali was willing to leave if it turned out this mysterious sister didn't want another mare companion, or found Inali not to her liking. At least it would be rejection of a different sort- one she could handle.
Inali felt herself grinning again at Dominick's words, though she knew that but a scarce few weeks ago she would find them useless platitudes. But he truly meant it- she could see that now. He meant what he said, and that made a difference. If someone meant the words they were saying, they took on a life of their own, independent of how many times they had been said previously.
Ah, so Dominick was close with the two-leggers? Inali herself sometimes gave up her mistrust of them to have her mane and tail combed out, though her silver mass was not nearly as fancy as Dominick's.
"I must confess that I sometimes go to the two-leggers for service as well. There's only so much that splashing about in a pond and rubbing against a tree can do." Well, someone had to keep her coat shining, after all. Silver got dirty extremely easily, and Inali didn't like to appear unkempt.
At Domnick's next actions and subsequent suggestions, Inali's eyes widened, before she shut down that part of her brain. He was just being kind, she told herself. Just being kind. And he was right, of course. It was bitterly cold. Trees only provided so much shelter.
"You're right, of course." Folding her legs, she lay down in the leaves, looking up at him with a small degree of embarrassment.
"Your father spoke true. I've had to rely on body heat before, though I had rather hoped I wouldn't be so foolish to get myself in a situation requiring it again. I suppose we both should have looked at the clouds before wandering out." Inali chuckled again, flicking her tail once against the leaves, rattling them against each other. The sound was strangely satisfying.
Taking a closer look at Dominick, Inali noticed something that had escaped her glance the first time. "You have rings in your ear like mine! Though mine are silver, and yours are gold. I rather like the gold, I must confess. Did the two-leggers do that for you as well? I only had mine recently done, and it stung a bit, but I think it's rather lovely." Never a moment of silence when Inali was about.
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Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 5:22 pm
He felt the shiver and a small grin tugged at the corners of his mouth again. He still liked that far to much, making mares happy was something he did live for .. but there was something different about her ... NO! Dominick stopped his thoughts right there, now wasn't the time to let such thoughts push forth, he still barely knew Inali.
His ears perked slightly when she spoke up again and he let out a chuckle. "My hair is far to fine and silky for it's own good, so tends to get dirty quickly ... and call my prissy but I like my hair to stay clean and neat."
He turned his ears to the side for a split second as he thought about his dad, oh how he missed him still "Yea ... I guess when you grow up in a rough land like Scotland you learn a thing or two about surviving."
When she noticed his piercings Dominick grinned at her, "yes yes I do." He flicked his ears back and forth making the piercings shine. "I also have one in my lip if it hadn't been noticed," he grinned wide and wiggled his upper lip making the gold ring shimmer as well against his black coat. "The two-leggers of my homelands did it when I was still a foal, and I do like silver well enough .. I just thought it would blend far to much with my mane." e only shrugged and settled down very carefully beside the mare
Turning his head he pushed the leaves against himself as well. Even the small bit of extra warmth they provided was enough to make him happier.
Cocking his head he tried to think of something to say, he could be just as happy sitting there beside Inali not saying a word but he didn't want things to get any more awkward. "Do you like to travel?" That was a dumb question ... ah well.
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Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 7:47 pm
Inali smiled as Dominick expressed his self-confessed 'prissiness'. She liked a stallion who actually cared what he looked like, but did not do so to a point where it became overbearing. It was such a fine line, and Inali felt as though she had seen both ends of the spectrum- those who wallowed in filth with little regard for how they may look, and those who obsessed so much that they scarcely looked up from their own reflection.
Inali also hadn't noticed the lip piercing. It was intriguing. That must have hurt! Her ears had stung bad enough, and the lips were so much more sensitive. "That is quite true. I liked the silver because it matched my mane, but was a bit darker. But the gold does look good on you. Did the lips hurt much more? How long could you not eat?" Had they been closer, Inali would have wanted to nibble lightly on that golden ring, but she resisted the temptation. Of course, if she was a foal, that would have been okay too. Ah, to be that young again! Oh well. If she was a foal, and Dominick an adult... No, bad. Bad mare!
"Oh aye, I've traveled a fair bit. I wasn't born in these lands either- I was born a long, long ways away. I remember that I came by a two-leggers ship, but it crashed and for a long time I recalled nothing of my home. I still don't remember much, and it doesn't hold that much significance. I've been to many parts of these soquili lands as well- I only wish I've to more! One step at a time." Sighing wistfully, Inali blinked away the snow again. It was letting down, the slightest bit, enough so that not as much blew into their little hide out.
"You must like to travel, or you wouldn't have come here. Or was it not a choice for you? Either way, there are wonderful places I have to show you and your sister when the weather warms up a bit!"
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Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 6:30 pm
He shrugged slightly "I don't quiet remember how much it hurt really, I was quiet young when my father let the two-leggeds that we lived near pierce me up. All the stallions in our herd got piercings, the lip piercing was a must get, otherwise they could get more wherever they wished." He didn't remember to much about his child-hood, his memories were starting to fade as more and more memories took their place in his mind. He frowned slightly, he hated this forgetting, hated hated hated not remembering everything about his parents especially.
He was momentarily lost in a haze of thoughts when a voice broke into his mind like the song of an angel. He blinked slightly and looked to see Inali laying there .. that's right .. he'd been talking to her.
"Yer life sounds very adventurous and fun. Myself and Armelle came to this apparent main land by two-legged boat ... but we walked many many moons over mountains and through valleys before we reached these particular lands" He shook his head making his mane rustle for a moment then twitched an ear and once more considered her question.
"I guess I wouldn't mind to travel more ... but I don't think Armelle is big on traveling anymore for the moment ... and she gets a little upset if she thinks I'm going to leave her." He smiled almost sadly, in many ways his sister was so independent .. yet in many ways she wasn't at all.
He watched her quietly for a moment, he was tired ..really tired and his body screamed for sleep. His subconscious mind drew up an image of them .. his head buried into her silver mane as she slept close by her side. For a moment he dwelled on the thought then his brain kicked in. No no no no, it was to soon to be thinking like that
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 9:37 am
Exciting? Her life? The very idea stuck Inali as fairly preposterous, but she didn't bother to correct Dominick. She wanted him to see her as something exciting, not something as bland as she viewed herself. Why did it matter how he saw her? She didn't know how to distinguish the million things flitting through her mind, so Inali squashed it down, firmly putting it in its place. How could she place that level of trust back into a stallion she had just met? Not yet. Not just yet.
"Resting for a while is good too. Especially if you've traveled for so long a time and distance," Inali murmured, sleep laid heavily on her voice. She felt it too, in leaden limbs and eyelids that seemed to want to slam down. There was a pleasant fuzz to her world, but like Dominick, the red mare was refusing to give in to that comfort yet. Visions danced in her head of happiness, of a future where she could rely on the warmth of a stallion and warm breath in her silver mane, but she shook those away as she could.
"You can rest... If you want. I mean, you don't have to. With me that is. But you seem so tired." It all came out so awkwardly, leading Inali to blush. She hadn't meant it like that, but her brain seemed to be inserting words she hadn't meant to say at all. Or was it her heart? Either way, she was getting quite flustered and internally angry at herself for falling into this trap again. But wasn't it a wonderful trap to fall into? And, truth be told, Inali was rather tired herself. Perhaps if she woke up before Dominick, or outlasted him, she could just sneak away quietly with her dignity still somewhat intact. But did she want to leave him now? No, they would see each other again. Inali was certain of that.
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