[SRP] Mischief! (Sibbi and Medina)

[Cajmera]

 

[Cajmera]

"Come on, Medina, I'm leaving you in the dust here!" Laughing merrily, the little filly raced her way along the crest of the hill, her tiny hooves dancing. She was the picture of health and vitality; a happy, healthy, pretty little thing with ice-blue wings and two-tone hair. She had the unconcerned air of one who has never had to worry about anything, the joy of one who knew she was loved, and the devil-may-care attitude of one who had never been in fear a moment in her life. Sibbi was all of those things, and more.

~~~

To say that her parents had been surprised when she came along was a slight understatement. They had been less jolted by her arrival than by her older sister Saffron's, but it was still a shock for Safi and Duo to wake up to a basket on their doorstep...for the second time. Sibbi, like her sister before her, had literally been a gift from the spirits, a child brought from the stars to two loving, caring parents who both happened to be stallions. Safi and Duo had long been content with their lives; the arrival of Saffron had thrown them into a tizzy of epic proportions. It had been years since Safi had raised his adopted daughter Saiena, and Duo had never been a parent at all. They had been overjoyed and horrified in equal measure, and thrown themselves into their roles as parents to a new filly with great energy.

Unfortunately, they had gone a trifle overboard in the 'protective' category with Saffron, who had had a spirited and independent disposition. As a result, Saffron and her fathers had butted heads on multiple occasions. There had been tears, storming, wild temper tantrums. Saffron had rebelled against everything, and as she grew, her rebellion became even more pointed. Upon reaching adulthood, she had almost literally 'flown the nest.' Distance had been good for the family's relations, but the price was rarely seeing one another.

When Sibbi had appeared, in almost exactly the same fashion, Duo and Safi had been shocked once again, but overjoyed as well. And this time, they were determined to avoid the mistakes they had made with Saffron. With Sibbi, they most wanted her to have a life of joy and happiness, where she loved them unconditionally, rather than sought out (potentially justified) reasons to fight with them. They gave her more freedom, allowing her to do more and see more...within reason.

~~~

Safi had a fox familiar, whose extreme devotion to Safi had seen him often cast in the role of watchdog. He was trustworthy enough, but also sharp tongued, sardonic, and overprotective to the nth degree. He and Saffron had butted heads on more than one occasion, and there was little love lost on either side. But shortly after Sibbi was born, Cerdi found himself unexpectedly father to a little of fox kits. Sibbi had met the babies, and fallen in love with one little female, whose white coat and ice blue snow flakes were almost an exact mirror of Sibbi's father Safi. The love was mutual, and as little Medina grew, it became obvious she adored Sibbi as much as Sibbi adored her. Without ever intending such a thing, Medina became Sibbi's familiar.

And after much debate by the fathers, it was agreed that if Medina was along and they didn't venture too far, Sibbi could go and play as she wanted.  

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"It's not my fault, Miss Sibbi! You have longer legs than me, an' you're bigger an' older, too. You just wait, I'll catch up with you when I'm done growing!" Medina ran along after Sibbi, her little legs straining in her efforts to keep up. As far as the fox was concerned though, she was content to be running at Sibbi's heels; she was still in awe of the fact that she'd gotten permission to be Sibbi's familiar at all. Neither she nor Sibbi realized that their fathers knew a lost cause when they saw one; that the familiar bond had been established before there was any chance for Safi or Cerdi to say otherwise.

"Pft, you keep making excuses, Medina, but I'll always leave you in the dust, even when we're both old and wrinkly. You just watch my rear, because that's all you're ever going to get to see in these races." Giggling, Sibbi streaked past the tree they had agreed on as the end point for their race, collapsing into a little heap of tired, panting legs and feathers. As far as Sibbi was concerned, she was the luckiest girl in the world; she had a familiar who was a friend, instead of a baby-sitter who was dour old enough to be her father.

Even if he was a fox.

Not that she had anything against Cerdi; after all, he WAS Medina's father, and her father's familiar and friend. But he talked funny, and he wasn't anywhere near as fun as Medina. Medina had a sense of humor, and was willing to race, and didn't make stodgy frowny faces hardly at all! "So...what do you think we should do, now that we're done racing. Do you think it's warm enough to go swimming?"

Pursing her foxy lips, Medina looked out towards the lake. "I don't know...why would we want to go swimming, anyway? Then we'll be all wet!"  

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Medina might not be the largest familiar, or the mostly wordly; she certainly wasn't the most stereotypical protector. But she was more than capable of keeping Sibbi out of trouble, just by being herself. If Medina weren't there, Sibbi might have already jumped into the lake, with little consideration about the 'why' or 'should I', living in the moment because she had the opportunity. But with Medina's question posed so baldly, Sibbi was forced to step back and consider herself. Why would they want to go swimming?

"Well, swimming is fun; you get to splash around, and if we were both swimming, we could both splash! Plus it makes you feel all nice and worn out when you're done, like you've been doing something really hard. Plus it's fun to nap in the sun when you dry out!" She beamed at Medina, pleased to have come up with so many reasons so easily. It was great to be able to want to do something AND justify it, it made her feel like a real grown up!

For her own part, Medina still looked dubious; first at Sibbi, then back at her luxuriously fluffy tail. Whatever charms Sibbi found in being wet, it was clear that Medina didn't share her enthusiasm. Still, she was nothing if not flexible. "Well, if you think it's that much fun..."

That was all Sibbi needed. With a crow of "Let's go!" she was charging down the bank, straight into the lake.  

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Medina hadn't been expecting things to move this fast, and she couldn't suppress a groan of dismay as her friend went plowing into the water. But where Sibbi went, so too went Medina; with one last, forlorn look at the fluffiness of her tail, the little fox went racing down the back after the foal, biting back a howl of dismay when she hit the water. "Sibbi, it's so cold! I thought you said it wouldn't be cold!"

Further out in the lake, Sibbi was already splashing around like a pro; her little hooves churning up the water, and her tail dragging behind her. While she would agree that the water was on the brisk side, there was no point in swimming if the water was tepid! "I never said the water would be warm, goofy; I just said it was nice to get all warm and cozy after you swam by lying in the sun! Of course it's going to be cool, it's a lake in the spring time." She laughed, kicking a wide spray of water back towards her familiar. "But don't let a silly little thing like cold get to you, Medina; this is a great day to swim! The water's not murky or covered in algae yet, so we can see all sorts of things down there. Maybe we can even see a kelpi!"

Sibbi beamed at her friend, as though the prospect of seeing a kelpi were a rare treat. Though in reality, Sibbi was excited at the prospect; she'd never seen a kelpi, but had heard it on good authority (her sister Saffron, who traveled all over and had seen everything) that they really existed. Imagine, Soquili who had four legs just like her, but fins like fish who could stay underwater for super long times! They might not be able to fly, but fish swimming was pretty cool as well!  

[Cajmera]

Judging by the expression on Medina's face, the idea of seeing a kelpi was hardly a balm to her spirit. As she looked back at her fox friend, Sibbi was struck first by the forlorn expression of wounded dignity on Medina's face, but more prominently by the extreme silliness of her friend's appearance: coat soaked, ears low, looking for all the world like a bedraggled piece of fuzz. Sibbi couldn't help herself, and promptly burst into laughter.

"Medina, you look so silly! You need to just relax and enjoy yourself, otherwise you're just going to be miserable for the rest of the swim. I don't want that, do you?" Grinning, Sibbi paddled her way over to Medina, giving the fox and encouraging nose. "You can even cling to my back if your legs are tired, I can swim for hours still!" A slight exaggeration, but at the moment Sibbi felt she could easily do a lap of the lake with energy to spare!

Medina once more gave Sibbi a baleful look, but then she cracked a smile. After all, it was hard to stay unhappy when faced with a smile that bright and cheerful! "Sure, sure. Just hold still long enough for me to grab ahold, will you? Then you can pull me along!"  

[Cajmera]

It wasn't easy for Sibbi to tread water, but she managed to calm down her flailing enough for Medina to crawl onto Sibbi's back. Once there, the fox calmed down quite a bit; the truth of the matter was that Medina was no swimmer, and she'd been fighting anxiety since she'd waded in and discovered her tail was pulling her down. Perhaps when Medina had finished growing, she would be better able to manage swimming excursions.

In the meantime, though, they were now both officially set to go. "Ready?" Sibbi asked over her shoulder. "Ready!" Medina managed to say through ungritted teeth, and then Sibbi was off, swimming out towards deeper water. "Watch the water as we go, Medina! I'm counting on you to handle the kelpi watch while I'm focusing on swimming!" Never mind the fact that Medina would rather keep her head up and not focus on the fact they were flailing through water; not to mention, who knew whether a kelpi would be a nice thing to encounter or not? But there was no stopping Sibbi, not when she had an idea in her head.  

[Cajmera]

It was somewhat amusing, the fascination that the aquatic world had for Sibbi. There was no real reason for it; she hadn't been told a myriad of water-themed bedtime stories by her fathers, she didn't know anyone who had had a close encounter with a kelpi, she'd never missed seeing a kelpi by the skin of its teeth. She wasn't remotely aquatic herself, she didn't have an aquatic familiar, she wasn't even particularly fond of swimming. But ever since she'd first heard the term 'kelpi', she'd been fascinated. Perhaps it was because the kelpi were so at home in the water, which was a foreign element; they were like the winds when it came to air, only in the water!

Whatever the reason, whenever she was feeling particularly adventurous, Sibbi liked to head water-wards and see what there was to find. Medina might not be a fan of swimming, but she'd better get used to being wet now that she was Sibbi's familiar. Sibbi was confident that it was only a matter of time before she met and became fast friends with a Kelpi.

"Why do we want to see a Kelpi anyway, Sibbi? They're just the same as you, except wetter and made to be in water." Medina sounded a wee bit petulant at the moment; she was glad for the tow on Sibbi's back, but that didn't change the fact that she was a fox out of her natural element. The mild breeze was already giving Medina a chill, and she knew it would take forever to get her tail properly dried and fluffed. Medina wasn't especially vian, but she DID like to look nice.

Perhaps when Sibbi grew up, she'd understand what Medina was feeling. Though Medina wasn't holding her breath; once a tomboy, always a tomboy, that's what she'd been told!

"If that's what you think, Medina, then you need to see a Kelpi just as much as I do! They don't look anything like me, other than being...well, Soquili shaped!" Sibbi giggled, paddling a little further out into the water to see if the deeper water yielded any better results. "I've got wings, and a mane and fluffy tail; Kelpis don't have wings, and they have tails that are like part of their bodies, stretched out! And they have looooong fins, to help them swim around better, and most of them don't have manes. They're more like fish, instead of..." She paused, trying to figure out the best way to phrase their difference; after all, she wasn't sure just how far their fishiness went! And she was really more of a horse than anything, just a horse with wings.

"Well, they're just like fishy horses. They can't fly, but they can swim super good, and they don't have hair lots of times, and they can hold their breath for a super long time...they're really cool! And you'd better still be watching for them, Medina; I can't swim and look down that well at the same time!"