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 Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2014 6:41 pm
 A blue fish swam across his nose as he 'sat' on the bottom of the shallow ocean floor, his tail curled around him like a content cat as he drifted in and out of focus, his eyes half closed. The warm current was relaxing. Too much so. He was used to the cold of the lake or a river. This warmth was putting him to sleep, like being curled around his mother as a foal when it was time to sleep. Nostalgic, in that sense. Sometimes he even drifted so far into a doze he thought he felt her body against him. But it always turned out to be a fish or a ray of sunshine or a warm current of something that just passed him. Though he missed his family, the constant presence in his life, it wasn't for homesickness that he dreamed. It was the water. And he would stick to that if anyone asked.
With a great yawn, the white Nova straightened his legs so he was forced up to his full height if he had four legs instead of a tail. More fish swam around his muzzle, barely missing his teeth as he clamped his muzzle shut, again. That was enough dozing. He had to fight the temptations. Had to find colder water. That would keep him up. Perhaps the Artic waters were close by? No. That would be an awful idea. Not only would the water be too cold, he would be too far from his destination. Home. How was he going to get back? The ocean was so large, the chances of finding anyone willing to help were slim. Unless there were more ocean Nova than he first thought. There didn't seem to be many in the fresh water. The only Nova he had seen were here, in the ocean. The only other fresh water he knew was his father, but Mercury hadn't stayed around long enough to know his children. Or know he had any, more likely. Deneb never really asked. Never really cared enough to.
Uncurling his tail, the stallion pushed off from the ground, forcing himself to move his tail back behind him to move him through the water. It wasn't long before the warm water every once in a while drew his eyelids back down slightly. Not enough to fall asleep, as he had the good sense to keep going and fight the urge with movement.
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Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2014 2:33 pm
 Lonely, but not yet ready to declare herself lost, Ilta swam through the warm water of a lagoon. Her pale feathers were held tight to her body, full of air bubbles to keep them dry (or as dry as they could be). She was heading no place in particular. Just...wandering around. Looking for company. Her father lived on land. Her mother and sister she hadn't seen since she'd been weened. Her children had swam off to who knows where and Ozean, the nice stallion who'd fathered them, hadn't been seen since that fateful day. Ilta hated the loneliness. The ocean, which had once held joy, now seemed desolate and without promise, despite the brightly colored fish swimming past her.
A pale flicker in the water caught her attention, and Ilta swam towards it. Why not? It was the wrong shape for a shark, no dolphin she'd ever seen was white, it was too far south for belugas, and it was too big for a seal. Whatever it was, it was harmless. Because whatever else it was, it was surely a nova. Ilta's eyes grew wide with delight and she felt her skin prickle with excitement. Until the stallion began to move. No! "Hey, wait, come back!" she called out.
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Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2014 7:04 pm
After a time, the stallion allowed the current to take him along, again, as the warm water lulled him into a doze. It was near impossible to fight, the nostalgia that went along with it making it even harder. It made him feel like a foal, again. A foal safe in the lake beside the family herd. Safe and warm in a family's embrace, physically and mentally. So comforting...
Deneb's head snapped back up at a sudden loud voice behind him. For a moment he was confused, thinking himself alone in this wide area of the even wider ocean. He had met one other Nova before, one with a horn such as his. But other than that meeting, he had seen no others. He thought he might have at a distant. All those sightings had been too far away to get close enough to before they continued on their way. And so he had continued to score the edge of the landscape for a river to easily navigate and keep himself awake. If he fell asleep, he would be washed back out to sea and lose the spot where he last looked. Everything looked the same to him down here. So wide, with no curves like a river as it flowed down the land. Or a lake, where you couldn't get lost if you went in one direction.
Another yawn opened the white Nova's mouth as he turned towards the voice, appearing to be disinterested until he saw there indeed was someone there. His mind was not playing tricks on him, half asleep and half awake. How wonderful!
"Oh, hello!" he called back, floating down to the bottom and wrapped his tail around a rock for balance. With a friendly smile on his face, he waited for the other to get close enough so they didn't have to shout at each other. Even at this distance, he was amazed at the beautiful colors of the stranger. So simple, yet so elegant. The white at her sides puzzled him. Could they be...Wings? On a Nova? Surely not? Horns seemed more common, in his little experience.
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Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2014 6:43 pm
By the time Ilta got close enough to the star to not have to shout, she was almost out of air. A quick dart up to the surface, a gasp between waves, and she dove back down again, wings held against her body to quicken her movement. The current pulled at her, but she was a mare with a mission. She arrived at the stallion's side in short order, grinning, her forelock over her face. She brushed it away with her leg and looked the stallion over. He was quite pretty, with tropical eyes and what appeared to be gold hoops draped over his shoulders. He also had, growing out of the center of his head, an arcturus horn. Huh. What was it about male novae and horns? Did all of them have horns? Her son and son's father had had horns, but she, her daughter, her sister, and her mother had not. In Ilta's experience, lyra wings were far and away more common than arcturus horns on novae.
"Hi! Sorry about that, I was out of breath and I didn't want to miss you." She stuck her wings out to balance herself in the swell. "I don't meet a lot of novae very much, especially salt-water ones. Gets kinda lonely out here. I'm Ilta, by the way--who're you?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2014 4:16 pm
For a moment, the Nova stallion was too transfixed by those wings as the other moved closely to realize what she had been doing before stopping. They were wings! As long as he could remember, when he was aware it was possible, Deneb had been greatly interested in seeing Nova with wings. Even, though he would never admit it even in his own head, desired having children with wings. That, of course, would require the finding of a mate with Lyra genes. His half-siblings had a winged mother. He, however, had a Nova and an Acturus. The only wings in the family sat on one of his sister's back courtesy of the strange contraption that covered all three of them. He wished his had little wings.
Shaking his head when he realized she had opened her mouth to speak, the Nova forced himself to listen, caught now between the lure of the currents to sleep and the lure of wings. Were they like a water bird's wings, made for diving in the water?
He offered a friendly smile as she apologized. "I would have waited. Do you meet fresh water more than salt? I am actually lost. I wasn't born in the ocean. My name is Deneb. I live in a lake." Which also got rather lonely, considering all his family that stayed around had four legs instead of one. "I don't see many Nova, either. My father left and my sisters and mother walk on land."
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 9:21 am
Ilta had never met a star so enchanted by her wings. She tilted them back and forth just to see if his dreamy eyes would follow them. And his eyes were dreamy in so many ways. Summer sky, tropical beach, they were blue, but a warm blue. A welcoming blue. A blue that sucked her own yellow eyes in deeper and deeper. Why was he so confused about wings? Birds had them, and lyra also. That's how she had her own wings. Well, partially, anyway. So far as she could tell, her wings were no different from her mother's wings. So why would that strike anyone as unusual? Unless, of course, wings on a nova were more unusual than she thought... Maybe she'd been wrong a few minutes ago. Maybe not all nova mares had wings. But then how could they fly from lake to ocean? It was a long, dry trip and her skin was always chapping by the end of it, but she couldn't possibly imagine being a landlocked nova with no wings to take her somewhere else...burr. Didn't stand thinking about.
"I didn't know you would have waited. If I had, I would have taken my time. I mean, not too much, I don't want to make you impatient or anything." She smiled ruefully. "Am I babbling again? My friend says I babble a lot. Sorry, force of habit, I guess. And yeah, I meet mostly only salt water novae. After I left my sister and mother, I've only ever met salt water novae. I think they're more common."
Well, here was an opportunity to ask her question! "My name's Ilta. How did you get to the ocean if you live in a lake and don't have wings? Did you have to crawl all the way here?" She nodded sagely to his description of his family tree. "My father walks on land, too. And flies in the air. He's a lyra."
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Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 7:12 pm
Deneb's eyes indeed follow her wings before he realized what he was doing and shook his head to stop himself. He could never explain his fascination, near obsession with wings. Those soft, beautiful feathers that took bird and Star alike into the skies. It must be wonderful up there. So safe, being able to see everything around and below you for miles. And what would attack a creature as large as a Star in the air? Birds if you got too close to their nests and other Stars, of course. The chances of finding either were slimmer up there, among the clouds. They must be soft, too.
The white stallion gave himself another shake as he realized he was zoning off, again. Giving a little chuckle, he flicked his tail a bit harder just once to keep himself centered.
"Nothing wrong with speaking what's on your mind. I do from time to time. Not uncommon for me to forget to give my own name." Chuckling once more, he nodded his head. "Except this time. Nice to meet you, Ilta. I have never met another fresh water Nova, but since coming here I've seen a few. Mostly from a distance."
"I got caught in a strong current and carried here. Ah," he added, more energetically than how he had been speaking before. "That would explain the wings. My half-siblings have wings."
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