[p.r.p] getting my hooves wet. [monoceros+amitola]

[Pale Mist]

The setting sun hung quite low, nearly kissing the horizon. It colors flooded the skies, making the dark unicorn stare up in complete wonder. It was one of the most beautiful sunsets he had seen in his life. And he could barely take his eyes off of it.
Ceros walked slowly through the green forest, not in a hurry, not needing anything. Simply taking his time to observe nature and treasure its beauty. He crossed over a few large roots, circled a few ancient trees, climbed over a few boulders, and hopped over a few small mountain streams.

Watching even this small amount of water trickle through the small pebbles and some dirt caused a few shivers to run down Ceros' spine. He knew this fear of water had to end, and end soon. He now lived in a land filled with water and being afraid of it would only cause him problems, this was no longer the desert where his phobia did nothing but cause him to freeze up at rain.
Ceros walked further into the wood, now deciding what he had to do. he quickly found what he was searching for; a large river. He stopped and stared at it, swallowing hard. Trying not to avoid it or run, but approach it. He slowly came to its bank and sat himself down only a hoof's length away from the water itself.

"Today I will conquer this silly fear," he told himself as he stared and watched the ripples of the water in battle. Atleast the reflection of the amazing sunset gave him some company.

 

[xo maho]

Amitola swam out of her cave, finding the lake flooded with bright pinks and oranges that radiated down in beams from the surface. She sighed. Sunsets and sunrises had always been beautiful in the lake... Though, she did find the actual colors themselves even more pretty the farther downstream she went.

Once, when she went with her parents down the river to the sea, she remembered watching the sunset there. The sun had set over the never-ending water in a huge bloom of yellow, orange, coral - all the colors she could think of.

Still thinking about her parents, Ami swam east, the easier route toward the sea. She was determined to go see them.

But halfway down the river, she stopped. This was the farthest she'd been since they left. Suddenly feeling the need for air - real air - she popped her head above the surface and took a deep breath.

 

[Pale Mist]

The colors were bleeding even more vibrantly into the sky, making a beautiful tapestry of the unbelievable natural magnificence. Ceros' had watched their reflection in the untouched water. It sort of put him in a trance, he was still stiff and biting his lip because of the water, but his nerves and fear was dulled and his thoughts swam lazily in his head. He lay his dark head onto his folded legs and his bright eyes began to die down and slowly glaze over.
This isn't too bad, water can't harm me after all....

Just as this thought finished in his head the surface exploded, shooting water all around, and onto the unsuspecting Unicorn. He quickly jumped up in surprise and fear, shaking the liquid off as fast as he could. In the sudden chaos, he stumbled back into a root and fell over onto his rump and back. Heart beating madly.

 

[xo maho]

A cracking sound and a thud split the air as Amitola came up. She looked around, startled.

An indigo stallion lay on his back near the riverbank, feet in the air. Scattered in his coat were strangely-shaped brown patches, and his mane -

His mane was made of clouds! And the moon! Amitola had never seen such a being before. He even had a spiral, glowing horn protruding from his face.

Beneath him lay a crippled and broken root. Amitola tilted her head to the side. That didn't look like a comfortable way to lie at all. "Um, excuse me," she called to him. "Are you okay?"  

[Pale Mist]

Ceros groaned at the impact of his fall. it felt like his lungs had hit against the inside of his rib cage. Not a pleasant feeling for the stallion. He scrambled to get up into a sort of sitting position. Just as he shook his legs to move them, his large ears caught a voice. He froze, but then looked over to see to whom it belonged.
His glowing eyes widened in shock and wonder when he saw a fish like Soquili swimming in the water. "Wha...."
His mouth opened and closed a few times as he finally stood back up onto his two hooved feet. His mouth was slightly ajar and he stared down at the swimming creature. What in the world was it? Who was it?
"Errm...yes..I am fine...ummm...." He stumbled and bit his tongue. He had no idea what to say. Whether to introduce himself, apologize for staring or to ask why it was in the water. Was it a fish?

 

[xo maho]

Amitola nodded a little. "Good... I thought you were just resting like that. It didn't look very comfortable."

She studied the horn, the moon, the stars, and the clouds that his mane was made of. He was incredibly unusual - he even had glowing blue eyes and cloven hooves. And some kind of tail that wasn't a tail. He made Amitola a bit nervous... He was way bigger than her, after all, as she was a little smaller than a large house cat.

"So..." she said carefully. "...What exactly are you, exactly?"  

[Pale Mist]

Ceros tried his best to collect himself and take in a few calming breaths. The speaking fish did not seem dangerous, he felt horrible for acting in such a way towards it.
He finally stood up back onto his glowing hooves and brushed off some dirt with his lion tail. Then his large ears picked up the fish's question.

"Myself? I errm..." he paused and looked over himself, tryin to decide how to answer. "I am a Unicorn from the herd of the Desert of Illusions. The herd of The Followers of the Star. Though...in these lands it seems i am something of a cross between a unicorn, Kirin, and Ceryanei."
he swallowed nervously as he watched the water move, making his eyes and celetial decoration glow brighter. "And...yourself?"

 

[xo maho]

Amitola's ears perked up in her curiosity. "The Desert of Illusions? I've never heard of that before. Is it near here?"

The air was beginning to dry out her skin. She let herself sink a little in the water. She'd have to dunk under soon.

She finally picked up on his nervousness, and hoping to make it better, she replied with as much detail as she could to his question. "I'm a Seathi - kind of like a fish and Usdia cross. A miniature Mer, if you've ever seen one. You probably wouldn't have though - we're generally a really shy group of species. My name's Amitola, by the way. What's yours?"  

[Pale Mist]

"Ah..." He gasped as she suddenly dipped back into the water. Was she getting too dry? Just like a fish? His wonder slowly began to over power his fear.
"The Desert of Illusions is a desert than connects to the desert that leads into these lands. Though it is still very far away and hard to find. You really have to know what your looking for." He chuckled shyly, thinking of how hard of a time he had had when he tried to return to his family. Even he, who knew the desert as well as anyone could possibly.

"Amitola?" He repeated, it was a beautiful name indeed, "Mine is Monoceros, I am sorry for not introducing myself earlier." He said and bowed his head. "So would you mind telling me...more about your kind and these 'Mers'?"

 

[xo maho]

Amitola sighed. "The Desert sounds bad to me. I'd dry out in a heartbeat." She pawed in the water a bit with her tiny hooves, thinking about the way her skin was already getting rough in places. It'd be time to dunk under really really soon.

"Mono... Mon-o-cer-os?" Ami said carefully, trying to get the name right. It was definitely a foreign name. It didn't fit well on her tongue, but she worked it around in her head until she finally shaped the syllables right. She grinned when she - hopefully - got it right. "I can tell you're not from here. Your name tells it all."

"Seathi are kind of... half-fish, half-horse, half-tiny-kitty-cat." Smiling, Amitola dipped into the water, taking a deep breath of nice, clean river-water-air, and forcing her tail above the water. Like a marsupial, it stretched up and down rather than side to side.

When she came back up to talk to him, she said, "We're tiny versions of Mers, basically. They're about your size, I think - I've never actually seen one."
 

[Pale Mist]

Monoceros laughed, "I am fine with just Ceros for short. And yes, i imagine that my name is very different from those who live in these lands. Just as yours is very different to my ears." He smiled, her name was very lovely and it compliment her well.
Just then she dunked back into the water, and Ceros' heart skipped a beat. A little water splashed, but even though it came nowhere near him, he still fearfully backed away a few steps. Then she came back up, to his relief, and told him of these Mers. "They sound amazing and different. Mermaid horses..." he mused to himself His wonder was accompanied by an ice cold shiver running down his back, causing him to have a cold, nervous sweat.
"So they...and you...are in the water all...day?" he swallowed hard and felt lightheaded. His thoughts now revolved around swimming, diving, fishing, running and still water. "Oh my..." he said weakly.

 

[xo maho]

Ami giggled. "Ceros is a lot easier for me to pronounce. It fits you well, though. You're different." She took a good look at him and eyed his horn a little warily.

She looked down at her hooves dipping in the water. "Oh, yes. We have to stay in the water all the time. If we don't... Well, we... We dry out and... We die," she said, a bit depressed just by the thought as she swirled her hoof about in the water. Looking back up at him, she found that he looked like he was about to fall over again.

"Um, Ceros? Are you alright?" Ami swam a little closer, accidentally splashing some water in his direction with one of her hooves.  

[Pale Mist]

"Dry out?" the though was grotesque and horrid, he suddenly became very thankful for the body he had! Even though it still needed alot of water, it would not dry out that easily in the desert sun, if one knew how to get around. But Ami was just like a fish!

Suddenly as she got closer, and the few drops of water splashed at him he let out a loud cry and fell over half-bucking. His heart felt like it stood still as he saw the water catch the light. "Ah, ah! No sorry, ah! Im just...afraid." He clenched his teeth together as he tried to get back up. Face bright red with shame.

 

[xo maho]

"Yes, we... uh... Dry out. There's not really another way to put it." She sighed and glanced up just in time to see a tiny splash of water touch his leg.

As Ceros fell to the ground, Ami flinched back a little. "Ceros!" she cried, her levels of concern spiking. "Are you sure you're okay? It's just... water. There's no nasty seaweed or anything here." Her head turned in a habitual head tilt. "Or are you afraid of the water?" she asked cautiously, as sympathetically and quietly as she could. She'd never known a horse who was afraid of the water, but it could make sense... Water could be scary sometimes, she thought.  

[Pale Mist]

The red on his face only became more vivid and widespread when he heard Ami speak of his fear. He swallowed hard and nodded slowly with a deep breath. "Unfortuntely I am. I have always been." He began, hoping that talking the matter off his chest might help his shame.
"I suppose residing in the desert might have let it become so errotic. Rain, oceans, lakes, rivers, even small streams all seem to make my heart jump. In the desert it was not as grand an issue, I survived. But here...Everything is green, damp, wet. Its become a real problem. I can't seem to be able to pass a day without running into the element."

He hung his head feeling like fate's fool.