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 Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 12:24 pm
 Abhyagni had made it abundantly clear - multiple times - that the safest place for a young, unsteady foal was with the herd, but this didn't faze Prabhat in the least. Flood? Fire? Large unsightly predators with crooked teeth? Bring it on! From the very first warning, Prabhat had been determined to make his escape, and this urge had only increased since he had been weened. He was no fuzztail! He could hack it. And then he'd have all kinds of neat stories to tell his siblings. Prabhat grimaced. Being the middle child didn't always come easy.
Escaping didn't come easy either. Abhyagni had a keen eye, and was... well, somewhat suffocating at times. Not that Prabhat minded that his father loved him so much, or his mother, but sometimes a colt needed some alone time. Yeah. That was it. Me-time, no parents or siblings.
Me time that came at the cost of running off and hiding in a thorn patch for an hour. Wincing, Prabhat eased himself out of the bush and headed East, away from the herd's northern path. With any luck, it would take them a while to notice he was gone. But not too long, it wouldn't do to sleep out on his own during his first night. Not that he was scared of the dark or anything. Or monsters. Big ones with large crooked teeth that could swallow a colt in one bite!
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 12:58 pm
 Hoshi made her way carefully through the forest, lest she step on Yue as he scampered around and through her legs. When he first appeared, she had tried to shoo the energetic little reptile away, but after many futile efforts had accepted his presence with a sort of resigned weariness. Though she had to admit, he had his uses. His small body could get places she could not, and he could act as a distraction when she hunted. He was a clever little beast, and eager to please.
With her attention focused on not trodding on her little companion, she almost didn't notice the sound of another creature approaching. Once she did, she froze, disconcerted that it had gotten so close before she noticed. It was far from silent, and she doubted it was any kind of predator. She hid, crouched in the shadow of a large bush, to see what would appear.
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 1:45 pm
The forest was a bigger and more threatening place when Prabhat was on his own. Mainly bigger, with more trees and more bushes. "Pwah!" Prabhat spat out a branch and glared at the bush he was trying to muscle his way through. If his dad was there, it's be properly flattened by now. Or his mom. Any member of the herd, actually, and that bush would be flattened. Like - so! With a might leap, Prabhat lunged forward onto the bush and -
- was knocked backward onto his rump. He stopped himself from crying, though, because there wasn't anybody around. What was the use of a good cry if there wasn't anybody to see it? Except for whatever it was that had moved over that.
He wasn't scared. He'd prove he wasn't scared. In fact, he'd be scary. He'd do the scariest possible thing of them all: he'd sing. Loudly.
"OHHHH once there was a great big flesh-eater," he bawled at the top of his lungs, highly off-key, "and it... liked to eat flesh. A bum bum bum. And then I came along, a regular ol' hero, and I kicked it right between the eyes, all twelve of them, and then it... it dieeeed, bum bum bum, because I'm all big and scary and I don't taste good hardly at all."
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 2:32 pm
Even the serious-minded Hoshi was forced to snort in amusement at the obvious bravado of what seemed to be a very scared young colt. She ignored Yue, cowering behind her. She wasn't sure if it had understood the intent of the song, and was silly enough to believe, or if he was just affected by the colt's atrocious singing voice, but it hardly mattered. What did matter was that she was about five seconds away from a truly horrible headache if the colt didn't shut up. She stepped from the bushes, Yue following close behind, one hand on her leg for support.
The reds of the colt's coat made him stand out, unable to blend into the shadows or foliage around him. Maybe a field of poppys... she gave another amused snort, louder this time. "Child, must you cause such a racket? If you taste half so bad as you sound, I doubt you'll ever have to worry about anything wanting to eat you."
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 2:50 pm
A stranger! The (oh so glorious) beginning of the second stanza came out as a terrified squeak, but Prabhat soon recovered. The stranger didn't have any great big teeth, not all crooked like, and neither did the two legged scaley thing. Besides, he was bigger than the scaley thing.
That's when the laughter sunk in. He blushed red with shame, then anger, then... well, he was red to begin with so he might have continued to blush, or he might not have, it was hard to tell. "Of course I have to sing it! It was composed for me, personally, to celebrate my many heroic deeds by bard uh... uh... bard Uhmuplfink. Yes. And of course I'm not worried about anything eating me, whatever gave you that idea? I am much too big and tough. Ha. Ha ha ha ha."
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 3:01 pm
"Well, I am larger than you, and there are things that would eat me, given the chance." she stated reasonably. "And you look more like juicy and tender than tough to me." Ok, so she was having some fun at his expense. He deserved it for telling such obvious falsehoods. Hadn't his mother taught him better manners than that? She continued, just to see how far he would try to take this. "Besides, I don't remember Uncle Uhmuplfink ever mentioning you." she lied. She had no such uncle, but since she doubted any parent would be so cruel as to give their offspring such a terrible name, she figured she was safe.
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 3:22 pm
Maybe she really was a monster. Prabhat decided that he needed to reevaluate his "all monsters have giant crooked teeth" position. Strangers were scary, especially ones that thought he looked juicy and tender. "Nuh-uh," he said hurriedly, "I taste really bad. Because I don't bathe, not ever, except when my mom makes me, and then I go and roll around in the mud. I taste like dirt, bad tasting dirt." He crinkled his nose at the thought of ever getting dirty on purpose (all it ever led to was more bathing), but hoped the scary stranger interpreted it as a growl of defiance.
His eyes widened in shock. She had an uncle name Uhmuplfink? But he had only just made him up! "That's because you heard me wrong. I definitely said Merplefelton. And he talks about me. All the time. He looks nothing like you, either," he added, starting to suspect a trick. An uncle named Uhmuplfink, sure, but there was no way she also had an uncle name Merplefelton.
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 3:53 pm
Hoshi looked at him, pretending to consider. "You look clean to me. And what's a little dirt, it adds minerals."
She had a very hard time not snickering at his reaction to her "Uncle." She hadn't had this much fun in ages. "Funny, cousin Merplefelton hasn't mentioned you either. He does look a bit different doesn't he? that side of the family tends to be a bit odd, you know. That's why they keep giving their offspring such outlandish names, they think it's very witty. We try to humor them. You know how it is, family and all that." She nodded with mock seriousness.
The cacophony having ceased, and showing no signs of resuming, Yue inched out from behind Hoshi's leg. He was curious about this new creature, so different from his mistress yet so similar in basic form.
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 4:39 pm
"I rolled in red mud," Prabhat said, slowly starting to catch on, "and it added plenty of minerals but they're all really, really sharp. They'll wear down your teeth and tear your insides up and then all the other monsters will eat you. I wouldn't want to wish that on anyone," he added, all wide-eyed innocence, "especially not such a nice person as yourself."
"Sometimes it's best to humor family," Prabhat agreed. "Like, I have this one uncle with very sharp teeth and wings. We don't talk to him very much on account of his always trying to eat people and all the bones in his cave having such an awful stench, but I think he likes me. He always shows up at the last minute when I get in trouble. Not that I ever do."
His eyes drawn by motion, Prabhat glanced curiously at the little two legged scaled beast, lies and monsters forgotten. "Hey there little guy," he crooned with an encouraging smile, "what's your name?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 4:58 pm
"Why, thank you for your concern, though I don't know why you're worried about me. I don't eat other Kirin, that's disgusting. You'll have to show me this red mud, I hear it's good for your health, improved the shine of your coat." she nodded sagely.
"Ah, one of those types. I'm glad you have someone to look out for you." she said, implying that he needed it. "I do hope he's not just trying to keep you alive until you're big enough for a decent meal. Not that I think he'd do that, of course. It's just... oh, never mind. I'm sure you're perfectly safe." She returned his look of innocence gaze for gaze.
Yue, startled by suddenly having the stranger's full attention, skittered back behind Hoshi's leg, wrapping his little arms around it as he peeked out with an inquisitive chirrup. "I call him Yue." Hoshi informed the colt. "My name, by the way, is Hoshi. In case you were wondering." she added dryly.
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 10:20 am
Prabhat lowered his head with shame. So she wasn't a monster then. "I can't," he said miserably, "I made it up. I was worried you might eat me."
"Not at all," Prabhat said, regaining his previous cheer, "by the time I'm big enough to eat, I'll be big enough to fight, too. I can do all kinds of tricks!" With a happy little laugh, he ran in a tight little circle, trying to catch his tail. It was unfortunately too short, so Prabhat stopped and smiled at the stranger while the world spun around in new and interesting ways. "I'm Prabhat," he said, somewhat dizzily, "and my father is Abhyagni and my mother is Lakshmi and I have two siblings but they haven't gone on any adventures like me."
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Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 12:08 pm
"A shame." Hoshi remarked. "It would have been interesting to see."
"Very nice." she kindly did not comment on the fact that he seemed to be having some difficulty standing up. "I have a sister, though I have not seen her in a very long time. What sorts of adventures have you had, young Prabhat? I seem to recall something about a 'great big flesh-eater' being mentioned earlier?"
The young foal's attention fully on Hoshi once more, Yue's curiosity overcame his nervousness and he crept forward to get a look at this strange creature that was both like and unlike his Hoshi.
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Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 2:59 pm
Poor Prabhat was starting to feel slightly nauseous, and missed the way the little two legged beast crept closer while he tried to think of a coherent reply. The remark about her sister seemed to require the most immediate reply. "I never get to spend much time away from my siblings," he admitted, "so I can't imagine what it must be like to not see them for a very long time. I imagine it must get lonely, even if you're all grown up and - oooh, the earth is moving." Prabhat shook his head to clear it, and shifted to the next topic.
"I haven't gone on very many adventures," he admitted, "but they've all been grand. I'm much better than my siblings at escaping from my parents, and I can see plenty of things they can't. I see things no one can see. And it's all real, because I can see it." He paused, not quite sure how to explain that his stories were true, even if he made them up. He made them true, simply by telling them.
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Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2009 3:02 pm
Hoshi gave him a concerned look. She didn't think he'd had quite that green tinge to his skin before. "Its not too lonely. We were separated at hatching. It's hard to miss someone you never really knew. I hope she is doing well, though.
"Are you all right there? You seem a bit unsteady, even for a colt." She moved closer with some idea of bracing him if he started to fall.
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Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 9:31 am
"She probably - whooo - is," Prabhat said. "I sure hope you see her again some day. A nice lady monster such as yourself shouldn't live alone."
He leaned gratefully against her. "I need to practice that whole running around thing more often. Or maybe less. Hey, I just remembered... you're not alone, you've got that little two legged thing. The whatchamacallit, Yue. That must be nice." He smiled happily at the big mare, long past seeing her as a monster. When he told others about the encounter, he decided, she'd be a good monster, like a protective spirit or something or other. Something grand, at any rate.
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