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 Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 12:45 pm
[[Private RP between Mindsend's Anjanas and Epine's Esper. Please do not post without permission.]] 
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 1:08 pm
A quiet life was hard to come by in a land where soquili seemed intent on courting and reproducing day in and day out. Whether they be male or female there was at least one of them squawking nearby to the point that he was plagued by headaches and a rising sense of exasperation. In a manner of speaking the 'angeni' was thankful that their intelligence did not extend beyond their own tongue as his inability to communicate with them had deterred them. You see, when it came to Esper and the Kawani lands it was imperative that those who wished to converse with him either spoke his language or were rather good at charades. He had long since come to the conclusion that these requirements were beyond the simple minds of the Kawani - most of which seemed to live in an age where technology was not exactly forthcoming.
It was a culture shock, or it had been when he had returned to his birth place upon the advice of his Great Uncle. He had been encouraged to return home, to see his family and to reassure his mother that he was fine. Admittedly the term 'fine' was to be used loosely but the issues surrounding his disapeparance as a child had for the most part been dealt with. So what if there were remnants of a darker persona? Azzinoth had reassured him that the darker aspects of ones personality existed in all and his family would love him regardless of this.
...Excluding his brother that was.
Nevertheless he had taken this advice and had begrudingly endured the long flight westward to the Kawani. West was the sensible option of course, there was more land to settle on and rest, the gaps from one continent to the other were shorter and his exposure to the arctic rim would be far less devastating if he took this route. His journey had been as comfortable as one could manage for well over eight thousand miles but even as he had landed he knew it had been a mistake. The vision of 'beauty' he had been greeted with was a mess, the soquili that existed in it corrupted and hell born. To say he hated it had been an understatement but his choice had been made and at the very least he had to greet his mother again. However, finding his family had been an entirely different matter and his search had taken so long that eventually his Uncle had caught up to him.
It was comforting to have a familiar face in the Kawani, but even his Uncle needed his personal space and while Esper had been asisted in his search and found his parents, he hadn't stayed in their company for long. The memories were too much and the suffocating presence of his brother had been enough to remind him that he wasn't welcomed by the prodigal and 'perfect' son.
He had left, understandably.
Now he found himself left to his own devices, his medical check up for that week performed the previous day. One might say they would have taken the opportunity to enjoy this and Esper would have been inclined to agree with them if he had been able to find a quiet spot. 'Quiet' didn't seem to be in the Kawani vocabulary though and from the moment the sun had risen the stallion had walked further south. Following the line of the forest during the earliest hours of the morning, it hadn't been long until he had slipped into the forest for some form of privacy. Eventually he would reach a place that satisfied his needs.
His feathered legs thrust through the foliage, causing the broad leaves to quiver in protest with each step. His blatant disregard for their current comfort was evident when he was more interested in locating a place of his own. At home he was suitably more relaxed and much more amiable, but the Kawani just seemed to bring out the worst of his temper! His demands would be satisfied in time - and sure enough within the next few paces he detected the hiss of rushing water. His ears pivoted, his eyes lifted and with a snort he parted the blonde forelock that had tumbled across his glazed vision.
A river?
Proceeding forward the stallion traced the sound, weaving between the tree trunks and other obstacles that lay in his path until the river he envisioned became a reality. It wasn't as big as he had anticipated but the rushing mountain water drowned out most of the unappreciated disturbance and left something similar to the relaxing waterfalls of home. He'd have preferred one of the zen waterfalls the priests made in their rock gardens but beggars could not be choosers in a foreign land, now could they?
His lips parted briefly in the rarest of smiles and he drew to a halt as he inspected the lay of the land. The forest provided him with adequate shade and he was deep enough in to avoid the typical meddling soquili. He suspected this would do.
"Finally..." he murmured softly, rustling his wings briefly. Black wings unfurled to give a thankful flex while the bloodied white plumes beneath quivered and shook to return feeling to their own bones. They'd been couped up for so long, few realised how exhausting it was to hold one's wings in a certain position all day when it wasn't natural - however it was either hold them in this manner or receive questions and accusing stares for the blood.
You pick which was easiest.
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 7:20 pm
'Heeee-'
The wind by the river was strong today, having picked up about an hour or so earlier. Which was unfortunate to a poor soul who had tested the air at that unfortunate time to be still before taking wing to cross when the winds picked up about half way over. And now, the weak flying was tumbling head over hooves, dragged along by the wind.
'-eeeeeeeeeeee-'
Wings fluttered rapidly, trying to keep from plunging into the water below, or crashing into low slung tree branches. Golden scales shedding in stress from her efforts to make it onto the shore and into the trees that would break the wind and allow her to grow to a safer size, a brown shape continued to dip and rise along the water, swirling helplessly against the currents of the sky, as low to the ground as it was.
'-eeeeeeeeeeee-'
The shriek paused momentarily, as if tiny lungs were gasping for breath.
'-eeeeeeeeeeee-'
Suddenly the eddies of wind shifted as she passed a form shaking out his wings, and Anjanas, the poor wind-flung Flutter, spun around in a swirl of air before hitting his head with a solid clunk and a sharp “-elp!” before ricocheting up and into some overhanging branches, tangled helplessly, “Ohmygosh! Are you ok?!”
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 7:55 pm
There was no justice in this world. None. Whatsoever.
The moment in which he had thought he had found a comfortable place to relax had proven to be his downfall. The instant in which his guard had dropped would spell disaster and the Angeni scarcely had a second to respond to the shriek of impending doom that would otherwise be the most creative introduction he had been given to date in these lands. Admittedly he didn't have the opportunity to grace the mare with the praise she deserved for this demonstration of individuality as she had done quite a bit of damage. Well, she hadn't completely obliterated his head, he was fairly certain that it was comfortable attached to his neck but the impact had dazzled him.
To watch a stallion stagger a few steps to the side while swaying precariously was probably not the most exciting of moments for some. Truth be told for certain forest animals there was probably a certain amount of terror in this entire scene. Here he was, dazed by the impact to the point that his sense of balance had evaded him. He could be likened to an old and withered tree, a simple breeze right at this second could very well have been the nudge required to make him colapse. Alas, as comical as this idea may have been to some the spirits favoured him enough to at least grand him his footing.
Standing in the fashion of a newborn foal, his hooves were planted firmly on the ground. His posture was squared and for a brief instance he was still before at last permitting his head to shake slowly. This did him no favours and he gave a wince at the throbbing that now seemed intent on making it's home in his temples. If buses had existed he might have declared he'd just been hit by one. Instead he blinked rapidly, his vision blurred and unfocused as he slowly turned his head in an attempt to locate the culprit - at first, he found no sign of life, no indication that he had in fact been side swiped to the head.
He'd just been in a hit and run?
Before he had even had the opportunity to grow indignant at this prospect or at his own inability to recover swiftly enough to catch the one at fault his rising anger was quelled. The soft voice, alarmed but coherent enough cut through the sounds of the rushing water and while he struggled to place it exactly his ears did swivel and twitch in an attempt to locate it. After what felt like a considerable amount of time his ears settled on one position and he turned his head to be met with...nothing? His brow furrowed at this and he squinted, his vision refusing to come into focus he could only just make out that there was in fact something there.
Something small.
Something really small.
Had he just been hit by a flying squirrel? If this was to be the case then that thing had to lose weight.
Clearing his throat the stallion half staggered towards the mare until his nose drew ever closer. Foot by foot, inch by inch until he was close enough to lick her if he felt so inclined. This distance proved to be more easy on the eye as well as they focused more rapidly and his ruby-hued orbs were greeted with a - a...
"Uma...desu ka?" He murmured in what could be considered disbeliefing tones. He had seen a lot of things in his life, but he had to be hallucinating that this was a horse at the very least. He had of course chosen not to reply to her remarks, partially down to the fact he hadn't actually heard her properly through the stun. Whether or not he'd understand her in a few moments remained to be seen. Frankly, he wasn't entirely sure she was a real creature just yet - head injuries did funny things to a creature.
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 9:16 pm
"Ah!" The miniature horse failed in the branches, trying to get down, then tensed, hooking her legs against them as another gust tried to rip her light form out from the trees, "Desu.. Desu ka.....? Oh goodness that sounds so familiar. Um.... Oh! uh, how do I say... Oh-hay-oh?"
It was said slowly and pronounced poorly as she tried to remember what her teacher had told her. She made a low groan of frustration, gritting her teeth a little, "Uh.. Con-Knee-chai-... Con-knee-chi-wa? How... Oh dear I never hit someone so hard they started speaking another language before. Go... Go-man-a**-ee?"
Taking a deep breath, she looked around before meeting Espers eyes once again, talking slowly in hopes some of the words would make sense, feeling like an idiot as she did so, though she managed to somehow make it sound more like she felt like an idiot rather then thought he was one, "I. Don't." She shook her head, "Speak. 'Jaw-pon-eese'. Could you-?"
She pointed towards him, then quickly recoiled her hoof around the branch as she began to slip a little with a squeek, "Move Me to the shore?" She made a head motion towards dry land, so very close yet so far away with the wind threatening to send her flying down stream again and cause more damage.
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Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 4:14 am
It was a valiant attempt that anyone could have been proud of, to have a local even attempt to communicate with him was something he hadn't anticipated, let alone a teenie-tiny horse. Slowly but surely his vision was clearing and as she struggled through her words he took note of the effort involved. The ripple of every facial feature beneath the fur, the occasional furrowed brow and the manner in which the lips twisted as things didn't come out quite the way she had planned them. Had she been teasing him he would have known but it was clear within a very short period of time that her attempts were generous. It came as a great deal of surprise to him when he caught the remnants of an apology in her words.
They were poorly pronounced, her syllables enunciated at the wrong moments but it wasn't the first time he had listened to a foreigner turn his tongue upside down. When it came to the trading horses in his homeland, it was quite a common sight. In an act that could be considered a rare form of gratitude towards the petite creature he finally unfurled one of the ebony wings once more and propped it lightly against the branches. Forming a windshield on one side of her, the dark feathers rustled every now and then as the gusts of air made themselves known.
Unfortunately his Kawani wasn't much better than her Japanese though and for what seemed like a considerable amount of time he was quiet. Examining her body language and her emphasised movements until he was certain of what she had said. By the tone of her voice it was a question of sorts, it had risen at the start, dropped in the middle and then lifted again. It was a request for help according to the facial expression she had (though this was still open to debate as his vision was blurring in and out).
After wracking his brain he eventually recalled at least some of the words, luckily for the mare he understood the words 'could you' which confirmed his assumption. From that point out it was merely a question of charades and with a soft snort he directed his other wing to the opposite side of the former. Picking the flutter mare up wasn't the most easy thing in the world, but he could dislodge her at the very least. With a wind shield at one side and his other wing providing a cushion on the opposite the liklihood of another breeze carrying her away was slim... Or at least this was what logic stated in his head.
"Yes?" He murmured. It was't an attempt to agree to or accept her request but instead a method in which to confirm he had gotten what she said right. There was only so much he could do when it came to body language and this was made considerably harder when he had to squint to see the poor thing!
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Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 11:57 am
Squirming a little on the branch as he nudged her loose, she dropped like a rock for a little less then two feet before she managed to flutter up and bob up and down in flight, letting out a slow breath as she was finally free from the wind. Looking down, she nodded and slowly flitted toward the ground, swiftly getting larger as she lowered. As soon as her hooves touched the ground, she trotted a short distance away until she was the size of a standard mare and woefully inspected her wings, which had shed a decent amount of its glittering gold scales, thin and transparent in patches on slightly tattered edges, "It'll take weeks for this to heal over... Ah! Oh.."
She turned back to face him, bowing awkwardly, "Ah.. Domar... Domo..? Domo Ah-bree-gah-toe... Wait that's Portuguese..." Anjanas rolled her eyes up, thinking hard. This was incredibly difficult. A Japanese Giant was not something the chocolate colored flutter was ever expecting to encounter in the Kawani lands, and without strong wings, there was no way she'd ever end up in Japan. Now she wished she had paid more attention when her teacher had attempted to teach her the language, "Ah-lee? no.. Ah-rye? A-ree-gah-too? Toe? Arigato! Como est- no that's Spanish...."
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Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 12:29 pm
Even the most proud of creatures reached a point when they wished they could do something to make an encounter easier. While Esper had long ago sworn never to learn the tongue of his birthplace there was a split second in which he had noted that things might have been considerably easier if he had. She was butchering his language and in the moments that she wasn't, she appeared to be gibbering like an embarassed lunatic. Well; perhaps an embrassed lunatic was a bit of an oxymoron but the fact still remained that he couldn't understand her at all. He was completely baffled and a confused, dazed and antisocial giant wasn't the most pleasant of creatures to be around when confused.
If he'd been a bear he would have been enraged by now.
Alas, his eyes gave a flicker as she mulled over her words. He didn't exactly flinch, but this flicker was about as close of an indication as any may receive to indicate his discomfort. If he had possessed the ability to speak more fluently then this little encounter would have gone much more smoothly. Admittedly it was more common for him to leave in light of such encounters (especially when they started talking this much) but her valiant effort to converse and the apparent injuries to her already fragile wings were noticable even from here.
Esper had been brought up in a foreign land, this much could be confirmed by any who knew him well enough. However the principles behind common courtesy and chilvary had been instilled within him. He didn't necessarily use them all the time, quite frankly he was more than happy to let some other randy prat take the role of hero but there were situations when his manners were required. His mind had decided that this was one of those instances where his presence was required if only until the midget of a mare calmed down and didn't find herself careening round the next river bend should a strong gust of wind catch her again.
Unfortunately while his intentions may have been good that still didn't mean he could understand her. His brow furrowed and he squinted as she placed distance between herself and him. It took him a considerable amount of time to realise that it wasn't his eyes playing tricks on him, but she was in fact getting bigger the further she walked away. What in the name of the gods was this madness? If she hadn't baffled him before he couldn't help but eye her suspiciously from this point onwards - where he came from, such magic was foul play! That being said, her overall vulnerability and air of genuinity contradicted this accusation of demonic behaviour to a degree.
You see, this was why he disliked the Kawani. It was filled with surprises and none of them were pleasant - even this one had given him a swift side swipe to the head. She was trying ever so hard though. Her sheepish expression and discomforted body language were enough for him to excuse her for turning his language upside down at the very least.
She'd said 'Thank you' he'd gotten that much.
"Ki ni shi nai de," he shook his head (albeit slowly) and permitted his tone of voice to lift above it's usual whisper so that she could hear it above the water. He was unharmed for the most part, she hadn't killed him and he didn't appear to have any lasting damage. As offensive as some might have deemed her behaviour, it was a wonder that the typically stiff soquili had taken it with such good humour. Perhaps she had done a little more damage than he anticipated...
"Hm," he took a breath and paused again. Conversation was not his strong point, it never had been. She wasn't a Japanese mare and as such he didn't know if the methods he knew would work. However he would sooner the mare not chitter absolute gibberish at him as she now was for fear that she could actually be a demonic being. All that gibberish could be a spell and he really had no desire to suffer at the hands of another malevolent spirit; he'd had enough of those for a life time. His only option therefore was to distract her, to make her pause and to divert her attention to other topics.
...So how exactly did a stallion do that?
Screw it.
Crinkling his brow the stallion furled his left wing against his side and then, using the still outstretched right wing, he pointed it to himself. He held it there briefly, then began to jerk it a few times as if repeatedly pointing to himself.
"Esper," he stated calmly then extended the wing to point at her, "....Yes?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 7:06 pm
Blinking slowly, Anjanas cocked her head slowly to the side, eyes wide, "Uh... Anjanas." she beat her wings lightly against her sides, the leathery 'whumph' of wings proportionally too small for her body, but still thousands of times larger then that of most insects, "Can. You. Under. Stand. Me?"
(bwargh, crappy short post. @_@ sorry about that)
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Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 9:48 am
No, not paricularly...
That was the answer he would have given if he knew how to express himself in such an eloquent manner. Unfortunately, while he did comprehend her query answering it was another matter entirely. If he were to infer he did understand it then this would lead to a conversation with which he had no chance of understanding - whereas if he didn't understand it then there was risk he would have to lay witness to his language being torn into tiny pieces again. Neither of these was terribly appealing but manners were manners and he couldn't stare at the mare as if she had twenty heads no matter how much he desired it. 'Easy' wasn't an option that was often given to him and as such he released a small sigh.
With the pounding on the side of his head reverting to more of a dull thump it was becoming much easier to think. Or rather, he was beginning to understand his own train of thought again. Eventually coherent thought processes and more complex questions would be within his grasp again - baby steps, it was for the best.
"Yes," he replied flatly. It wasn't that his voice was monotonous so much as unimpressed by the necessity to speak in a language he didn't like. The gods only knew what awaited him now that he had taken the plunge but if things got really bad he supposed he could bolt. Cowardly to some but an easy exit (most of the time) all the same. "A little," he ammended after a few moments of consideration. That aside, despite his attempts to answer her queries his accent could not be hidden and the words themselves may have sounded a tad peculiar.
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Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 7:47 pm
Nodding slowly, Anjanas looked around nearby with eyes wide, hoping to find something or someone who can help. Not spotting anything, she sighed slowly, expression pleading, "Are. You. Hurt?"
Her wings flopped with an almost leathery rustle as she slapped them softly against her side awkwardly, uncomfortable with the fact that there was a serious lack of proper communication. It was a pity she couldn't remember much of the language, "Can. I. Help...? Oh!"
She went over to a tree and snapped a dry stick from it before lowering her head, carefully scritching some kanji into the ground -- she could read and write the language well enough anyway, due to her teachings. They were beautiful, and seemed more of an artform to her then learning the language.
<can you read this? Can you write?> was scritched in the dirt by the time she stepped away, offering the stick hopefully.
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Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 2:05 am
It wasn't the most typical method of communication and nor was it one that most soquili would excel at either. He could tell that she was taking a gamble with her attempt and he commended her for the risk. Fortunately, he could read Kanji to a degree given the place he had been raised in. Surrounded by priests within the Temple, he had been privvy to their peculiar script writing on occasions and as the years had progressed he had developed a reasonable understanding of what the 'strokes' and 'dots' meant. He'd never used the symbols to communicate with a human before, had never really considered developing any deeper relationship with them but evidently it had it's uses.
For a while he stared down at the symbols beneath his hooves, they seemed to dance within his vision as though rogue figures and then slowly, they began to make sense. Few would realise it, but if Esper had been human there was a high chance he would have suffered from a very mild form of dsylexia. Nevertheless, it was clear that he understood as his eyes lit up with clarity and he gave a very brief nod of comprehension. To say he wasn't looking forward to the co-ordination necessary in forming a reply was an understatement though and it was only after a considerable amount of time that he responded.
...He chose not to use her stick, it somehow seemed inappropriate to him.
Creasing his brow, he piqued his hoof and very roughly cut into the soil of the river bank beneath his hoof. His kanji were certainly not as artistic or neat as her's, suffice to say a calligraphy teacher would have wept as he butchered their appearance but they made sense all the same. He responded simply.
He added as he swept back to the former topic of conversation briefly.
...He'd understood that one too.
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Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 11:27 am
Grinning broadly, Anjanas smoothed down the dirt on her patch of ground with her hoof before scratching away at the ground, ears perked and eyes bright.
Communication had been established, if a bit slowly due to them both having had little reason to use the lettering in a practical manor to have any decent speed at it, she was no longer babbling uselessly at a man who couldn't understand her in attempts to apologize for her clumsy, out of control flight. The chocolate colored mare preferred keeping her hooves on Terra Firma for that very reason.
<my apologies for flying into you, I was trying to cross the river but got caught in the wind. My wings are small for a Flutter, as you can tell, and I'm unfortunately a very weak flier. You did speak nothing but Japanese BEFORE I hit you, I hope. I'm not sure if I could help if I knocked you into speaking another language.>
She paused, standing back to let him read, before writing a bit more, <May I perhaps suggest you trying to get a translator? I hear Corvids are quite useful for it...>
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Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 4:09 am
Now wasn't the time to confess that he already had a 'corvid' was it? He continued to examine the kanji as they appeared beneath her hooves. One after the other, he slowly read and considered them - when they weren't dancing they made sense; it just took a while for them to settle. This in mind, it was quite some time before he formulated a reply and began to scratch it out in the soil beneath him. It should have come at no surprise that he struggled to write as much as he read, his kanji continued to be rather brutal in form and the time it took to write them was significantly longer than it had taken her - ironic, given he was a native to the language!
Nevertheless, by the time he had began to write out his response he had already made the decision to be honest. It was frowned upon for the soquili to lie, his sensei, parents and other guardians would have been unimpressed by his behaviour if he did so. As a result, no matter how awkward the confession might have been, he would inform the mare that at some point between here and his former site in the Kawani, he had misplaced his translator.
...Truth be told, he didn't actually want one!
He replied and rolled his shoulders in a lose shrug, seemingly unconcerned by the absence of said companion. He pointed out, just as well he wasn't speaking or the tone would have been rather dry.
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Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 1:12 pm
Reading it slowly herself, though at a faster rate then Esper, she nodded, ears perking up as she smoothed out a spot to write on yet again, pausing as she thought of how to word it.
<I do apologize for that -- I had no control of where I was going, and the winds brought me to you.> She paused, moving away to give him a chance to read it, recognizing he was having problems -- she thought nothing of it, considering writing was an art lost on most soquili, more apt for the less time consuming method of talking.
<Well, having one is a step towards being able to be able to communicate in emergency situations such as this... And to be able to find things you want, even if you aren't a chatty individual.> She bowed her head respectfully in a half apology. She didn't understand why someone would insist on thoroughly ignoring the language of the land they had traveled to. It seemed to be a sign of either dimwittedness, stubborn superiority, or embarrassment about having difficulty with it.
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