[PRP] Rock & a Hard Place? (Cora, Corwin,Fletcher, Thatcher)

[Cajmera]

 

[Cajmera]

Times, they were a'changin.' But Coralia hadn't decided yet if that was a good thing, or something to be regretted.

She strode up and down the bank of the small pond, every stride filled with agitation and impatience. She had never been a good one for waiting; she was even worse at waiting when there was something serious on her mind. And when the reason she was waiting was that her own dearly beloved brother was running late, well...that only made it worse. A big part of the changes she'd been thinking about involved her twin; at least when it came to Corwin, Cora knew exactly what she thought of change: it was a big fat negative!

Coming to an abrupt stop, Cora stared moodily down at her reflection. The face that looked back at her she knew well; fine bones, white coloration, and a crazily unkempt mane of grey and black around the whole. It was a comforting face, a familiar face...and a face she should NOT have to be seeing in the water! If everything was as it should be, she would be standing next to her brother, seeing in his face, her own. Sure, Corwin's face was a bit broader, the bones a bit heavier, and the overall effect a bit more masculine, but it was close enough. It was better, because it was in person.

But ever since they'd come to the Kawani lands, Corwin had been changing. Before, it had been them against the world; they had survived so much together, with each other as their only surviving family, their only surviving friend, their only real companion. They had made it through the famine that claimed their mother, avoided the skinwalker that took their father; they had even managed to survive the Kalona attack that wiped out nearly all of their adopted flutter herd. It was that Kalona attack that had nearly killed Corwin, fueling Cora's desire to keep him all to herself. She had been the one who wanted to avoid joining any new herds, or even to talk to any other new Soquili 'until further notice.' In Cora's mind, further notice was a loooooong way off.

That hadn't been the case for Corwin, though. Ever since they had lost the herd, he had been quiet and morose (for him). Cora had chalked this up to his near-death experience, but as more time had passed, she started to suspect there was something else bugging him. She had badgered him about it, but he'd only shrugged her off. But whatever it was had stayed with him, because he'd not only continued to act withdrawn, it had gotten worse. Suddenly he was spending more and more time on his own, talking about meeting people, seeing new things, really making the most of living in a new place.

Cora was appalled. Her beautiful little bubble of security, she and Corwin against the world, it was perfect. They were each other's rock, and always had been! They only needed each other; hadn't history taught them that relationships of any sort always ended badly? That getting attached meant always, always running the risk of loss? And here Corwin was turning his back on that knowledge. It was like the stallion actually wanted to get hurt.

That was bad enough, but did he have to cut her off in the process? And did he have to be so late all the time?

Cora didn't like weak or weepy or overly emotional mares. She'd been through enough hardship that toughness was vital to her survival; tough in body, tough in attitude, tough in spirit. But as she lashed out and kicked her reflection in the water, breaking the image into a thousand rapid ripples, she felt dangerously close to crying.

"Bloody chenges," she muttered in the strong accent their time in the Kawani lands had done nothing to alter. "Bloody, mesreble chenges!"

Nisshou H

So, I can't remember if you currently get quote notifications, or if you do but prefer not to; I usually tag rps this way. Just let me know if you prefer I not use the quotes!

 

[Nisshou H]

Fletcher and Thatcher had been given the day off, or more precisely, Lorenna had kicked them out of the thicket where she was conducting her report gathering. One day she would grow to appreciate the way they lightened the mood of what promised to be an otherwise dreary day. This was accomplished by managing to upset every bird just by introducing a stray cat to the thicket. The two had removed it almost immediately but watching her messengers trip over each other and collide in mid-air to try and get away from the mangy feline hadn’t put a smile on her face. Actually the look she had shot the two before shooing them had been downright murderous. All that taken into account it would be more accurate still to say that they had fled until Lorenna was in a better mood. Fletcher theorized that after twenty-four hours she would be able to look at them again without seething hatred seeping into her eyes.

They had known Lorenna for a long time, ever since they were foals left on their own. Lorenna had promised to locate their parents for them but she had never succeeded and, in the end, ended up raising the two hooligans on her own. By all rights Fletcher and Thatcher could very well have considered Lorenna their adoptive mother if not for Lorenna’s vehement protests over the use of the term. The twins had long since given up on ever finding out the truth of their parentage, having never known them it simply wasn’t important. They had each other, that was important, and they had Lorenna and Lorenna’s cohorts and that was also important. It would be fighting a losing battle to try and convince Lorenna to give up the search entirely and so they left her to it. One day she would understand that what Thatcher and Fletcher really cared about was what they had now and not what they had had then.

For instance, now they had a day free of responsibilities and a need to exercise their legs. They were still young after all.

“Race you.” Thatcher said to his brother before taking off at a gallop. Fletcher just stared at him noticing one or two flaws in his brother’s plan of activity.

“To where?” Fletcher called to his brother’s rear, rolling his eyes when Thatcher didn’t respond. Likely the younger of the two couldn’t hear Fletcher over the sound of his own rapid hoofsteps. Knowing that Thatcher wouldn’t even notice that Fletcher wasn’t behind him until he stopped running, Fletcher took off after him. As he gained speed he noticed that his twin had stopped running and was, instead, bouncing in the stiff legged fashion known as stotting. Fletcher snorted.

“You’ll lose doing that!” Fletcher called as he propelled himself forward using a combination of jumping and galloping his sleek silver mane blowing out behind him. Thatcher didn’t reply, he just stopped bouncing and turned to grin.

“I already won.” He boasted. Fletcher came to a dead stop and gave Thatcher a quizzical look before frowning in stern disapproval.

“How could you have already won? We just started.” He pointed out.

“I decided that we were only racing to this sapling.” Thatcher announced stepping aside to reveal what was possibly the sorriest excuse for a sapling tree that Fletcher had ever seen.

“That’s ridiculous.” Fletcher countered. “Let’s have a real race, with an actual goal, not just some mark you pick on the spot.” Thatcher was grinning. Fletcher realized a little too late that his brother had been hoping he would do this.

“Where too then?” Thatcher prompted.

“That pond we were at yesterday, where we met those herd representatives.” It was nearby but not so close that Thatcher could cheat his way to victory again.

“Alright, readysetgo!” Thatcher took off before his brother could get a chance to prepare. He could hear Fletcher calling after him to stop cheating to which Thatcher laughed, loudly. It didn’t take long for Fletcher to catch his brother and it took even less time for the race to become a constant battle for the lead. As soon as the pond came into view the twins had precisely the same idea at precisely the same time. Thatcher tilted his head to the left to gently persuade Fletcher to turn away from their goal while Fletcher tilted his rack to the right to do the same to Thatcher. The end result was the two of them knocking antlers together and knocking each other to the ground.

“Of all the stupid tricks!” Fletcher shouted getting back to his feet as quickly as possible.

“You did the same thing!” Thatcher pointed out angrily. The two started bickering with one another as they continued on their way to the pond. Conversation abruptly stopped when the two finally noticed that they weren’t alone.

“Hey, someone’s there.” Thatcher pointed out helpfully. Fletcher rolled his eyes.

“Good day!” He called to the stranger taking note of their features. Large flat wings like that of a butterfly, they were a flutter like Lorenna. They bore no other distinguishable trait, which was a relief; Fletcher didn’t want to spend his day off interviewing kalona crosses to make sure they weren’t a threat. “Do you mind if we join you?”

cajmera

Tagging like this works fine for me.

 

[Cajmera]

Coralia had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that the warring brothers got much closer than they should have without being noticed, especially considering the amount of noise they were making. Still, she wasn't completely dense; she might be listening impatiently for the sound of hurrying feet, but there was no way that pounding stride was her brother. He was so light on his feet he was almost silent; the approaching footfalls were like cannon fire. Ditto the angry shouting.

Before either brother had noticed her, Cora had plotted an exit strategy. Whoever they were, the noisy newcomers, they were clearly wrapped up in their own business and completely unaware they weren't alone. She could easily shrink and flutter away without them noticing. Heck, with the volume involved in their argument, she could probably have walked away in her normal size without fear of detection.

Except for the fact she was expecting Corwin to show up here, in this specific spot, at any minute. Darn it, darn it, DARN it! Considering how much she wanted to see her brother, there was no way around it. She would just have to deal with...whatever this was. Whatever they were, aside of loud and arriving at a very inconvenient time.

But at least they weren't rude, she thought with an internal sigh, and they were on the other side of the pond. Beyond that, though...what were they? Built like Soquili, but with extremely slender legs and horns rather like elk. Glancing from one to the other, she couldn't help but notice their similar features; in fact, they appeared to be completely identical! Whatever they were, it was clearly the same. Probably a brother same, potentially even a twin same? Wouldn't that just be the thing!

In spite of herself, Cora found she was feeling a bit curious. So she tempered her previously gruff tone into something that, while still sharp, was less overly hostile than her earlier mutterings. "Yeh're quoite polite fehr askin', loike, but yeh dinna have tae be worrin' about entrudin'. It isnae moy home tae be feelin' possessive o', and yeh're probably thehrsty, wha' with all yehr roonin' an' crashin' intae each other, loike." At that, she cracked a slight smile, looking from one elk-like stallion to the other. "Was the fallin' intaintional?"

Nisshou H

 

[Nisshou H]

What was happening? The twin brothers glanced uneasily at one-another as the mare, clearly by the voice, began to speak. It sounded like the language they were used to hearing to some extent but every single word that fell from her lips had the strangest pronunciations they had ever heard. It was a bit like trying to decipher what Wolf’s bird Raven was trying to tell them, but twenty times harder. For a few moments they just gaped out her trying to make their brains get back into a functioning state once again. It wasn’t until she smiled and asked a question that something seemed to click in Fletcher mind and he was able to work out what she said.

“Was the falling intentional?” He parroted before flushing slightly as he realized what she was talking about. She had seen them topple to the ground with all the grace of a ripened apple. That was a great way to make a first impression. And if that wasn’t enough she also would have seen him squabbling with his brother like a foal moments later.

“You saw that?” Thatcher asked weakly, ducking his head. A darker pink tinge was spreading over his face standing out a bit too well on his pale coat. He looked to Fletcher unhappily and both brothers were having the same thought. That thought was simply, ‘we’ve blown this.’

In an effort to save at least some of his reputation Fletcher came closer to the edge of the pond so that they might speak more easily. (And, to be honest, he felt the closer proximity might help him understand more clearly.) The mare hadn’t fled, nor had she tried to attack them so she likely wasn’t a threat. For all either brother knew she could have been trying to explain precisely that to them and they had just missed it. She also could have been threatening them but the tone hadn’t been quite right for that. She seemed agitated, not entirely aggressive or territorial. They had been trained to look for signs like that lest they accidentally wind up in some kalona death trap again simply by being trusting.

“We didn’t mean to fall, no.” Fletcher explained. “We just sort of… did the same thing by accident and it went… wrong.” Fletcher gave Thatcher a look as though blaming him. He should have known that his twin would pull a stupid stunt like that. He also should have known better than to try it.

“It would’ve worked great if he hadn’t dropped his ‘you shouldn’t cheat’ stick.” Thatcher commented sourly as he came down to stand by his older brother. “I’m Thatcher. This is Fletcher. Since he didn’t bother to introduce us.” He shot a look at Fletcher. The meaning was clear. It was Thatcher’s ‘this is a beautiful lady don’t be dumb’ look. “Who might you be?” Fletcher resisted the temptation to kick his brother’s ankle, it would only make them both look bad.

Cajmera

 

[Cajmera]

At first, Coralia was ready to dismiss the two as a bit of a bumbling act. She'd been nice and given them the benefit of the doubt, but the blank stares and the repetition and the pointless question made her rather doubt their intelligence. Of course she'd seen the tumbling act; they hadn't exactly been quiet and they didn't exactly blend into the scenery. And then there was the repetition...this was why she she didn't like dealing with other Soquili; frustration, among so many other things.

It was a testament to her secluded habits that the language/accent barrier didn't even occur to her. As far as she was concerned, she spoke with clear, precise diction and in completely understandable tones!

But, as she reminded herself, she had to stay, and staying meant putting on a happy face. Or at least a polite face. It was unsettling when the pair came around to her side of the pond, but she remained as she was...aside of shifting slightly to have a clear bolt path, should this encounter turn truly unpleasant. Just because they looked and sounded harmless didn't mean they were, and besides, she'd seen what elk were capable of doing with their horns!

Yeh can get through thehs, Cora, she said to herself as she let out a steadying breath. Yeh are a stroong, stehdy mahre wha' ken hoold hehr oown again' a pair o'...elks. Who moight even be truly frayndly, loike. Taking another calming breath, she looked from one elk-Soquili to the other, nodding in the appropriate places as they explained themselves a little bit better. Brothers. Definitely brothers, or she'd eat her wings. "Sae, yeh wehre joost cloownin' aroond loike a pair o' foals and yeh wehre smacked boy gravity, then? Tha's a beht o' a common occurance when dealin' wi' brothers; shure, an' don't I have the same theng happen froom time tae time wi' my own broother?"

Introductions. She'd have to introduce herself now that they had; it was only polite, though heaven help her keep straight which was which. They looked completely alike, and even sounded very similar. But she'd make an effort. "Shore, an' yeh have vera foine manners, Thetcher. It's noice tae be meetin' yeh...I thenk," she added with a slightly wry smile. This 'socialization' thing was hard, after all! "An' yeh as well, Flehtcher. Moy name is Coralia, but yeh may be callin' me Cora, if yeh prefer." Looking from one to the other again, she decided to just get the question out there. "Sae, are yeh being twins, then, or joost vera close brothers? Because yeh seem tae be a fair way towards twins, loike. An' then pehrhaps yeh could tehl meh wha', precisely, a 'cheatin' stick' is."

Nisshou H

 

[Nisshou H]

Fletcher found that if he really focused on what the flutter was saying and absolutely nothing else he could basically understand her. Thatcher found that she may have been speaking something altogether foreign, despite earlier assessments, with the exception of a few words here and there. That most Thatcher was able to understand was ‘smacked, gravity, brother’ which he thought was definitely a good summary of what happened so he nodded his head. Fletcher was able to get a little more but he couldn’t think of a proper way to respond beyond looking sheepish. At the very least it was somewhat comforting for him to know that she seemed to have a brother of her own. She probably understood what it was like to squabble pointlessly with a sibling and have it go awry.

Thatcher found himself wrinkling his nose at the next wave of words from the mare. She seemed to be directing comments to him but he wasn’t sure what ‘foine manners’ were and he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to know. The way she was speaking he couldn’t tell if that was an insult or perhaps some form of praise. That smile hadn’t looked particularly promising.

“Cora, it’s nice to meet you.” Fletcher said only once he was positive that that was what she had been saying. She was definitely speaking their language, that much was clear, though Thatcher still thought it might be foreign after all, but she did have a very thick accent indeed. She knew the language but it was possible she hadn’t been born knowing it. “Yeah, we’re twins.”

Thatcher was glad he had his brother here; it was like having his own personal translator. He found that once Fletcher replied he understood precisely what the mare had been trying to say. “Or so we’ve been told.” Thatcher added with a cheeky grin. “Identical too.”

Fletcher rolled his eyes a little. “Glad to see you remember how to talk.” He murmured quietly to his brother in a way that Cora hopefully wouldn’t over hear. Thatcher pulled a face in reply. “And he meant ‘schtick’ which is just a thing you do a lot… I think.” Fletcher thought that’s what the definition was. It made sense at the very least.

cajmera

 

[Cajmera]

For all their earlier noise making, the brothers sure didn't seem to be big on conversation! Still, Cora supposed this wasn't necessarily a bad thing; she couldn't recall the last time she'd been listened to with such attentiveness! It was a nice change of pace, having a conversation where she was actually being listened to. Sure, Corwin would listen to her, but lately it had only been with half attention and followed by a heated discussion. Well, comparatively heated; it would take a Soquili with far more talent than Cora to truly rouse Corwin's temper. Unlike Cora, who tended to fly off the handle with depressing regularity, Corwin was mellow and pleasant.

In that respect, it was rather nice for the elk-Soquili to be so accommodating! She'd been doing her best to work on her temper after a few well-meaning 'you're coming off a bit catty' remarks, but it was still very much a work in progress. What could she say; little things just tended to get to her!

Though she wasn't sure what the one twin...(Thatcher? She was pretty sure that one was Thatcher) meant by that nose wrinkling thing. Hopefully nothing too serious; she had yet to figure out what the local customs and affectations all meant...mostly because she'd been doing a piss-poor job of socializing. Yes, it was definitely for the best that the brothers were on the quieter side, conversation-wise.

She was pleased to have confirmed the twin thing; other than herself and Corwin, she'd never met another set of twins. Though she had a momentary feeling of jealousy; Fletcher and Thatcher were the most proper kind of twins, the same gender. How often growing up she'd wished she was a stallion! If she was a stallion, maybe she would have been taken a bit more seriously while growing up. Stallions tended to be taken seriously; they weren't laughed at and patted on the head and dismissed when they said they wanted to wrestle!

Life just wasn't fair sometimes.

Still, that did nothing to diminish the interest she was now feeling in the elk-stallions. Smiling in a much more natural manner, she gave them a quick nod. "I was thenkin' that tae be the case, tho' yeh're probably more than used tae bein' taeld sooch a theng. Stehl, it's behtare tae be confirmin' a soospicion than tae be woonderin', dinna yeh thenk," she said, glancing from one brother to the other. "Spaykin' froom pehrsonal experience, I nehvehr loiked it mooch when people whehre beatin' aroond the bush, as it whehre."

That being said, she tried to follow along with the explanation of a 'schtick', but that was a little beyond her. Still, she was making an effort. "Yeh're speykin' o' a habit, then?" She asked, cocking her head to one side. "Istha correct?"

Nisshou H

 

[Nisshou H]

Fletcher was beginning to get a good feeling about this meeting. The longer they stayed speaking with Cora the clearer her words seemed to become. She had a thicker accent than any he’d ever encountered before but he got the distinct feeling that his work may bring him into contact with others with accents or a poor grasp on the language in general. Learning to understand was a valuable skill. Thatcher was somewhat less interested in the intellectual benefits and more interested in the fact that this was a mare that was not Lorenna or working for Lorenna. That meant they could talk and goof around however they happened to want, even if she was painfully difficult to understand. Fletcher would keep translating and all Thatcher had to do was saying something witty at the right time. It was a win/win situation.

“Actually not many seem to realize what a twin is in these parts.” Fletcher said. He himself hadn’t even known what he and his brother were until Lorenna had explained it to them. They had been children at the time but since then very few had ever applied the word ‘twin’ to the pair of them.

“Normally they just say ‘oh you look just like him! Are you brothers?’” Thatcher added in his best mockery of an old mare. As he spoke he wove his way to the very edge of the water so that he could idly kick small stones into the pool to make ripples. Fletcher nodded his head in agreement. That did seem to be the comment of choice. Occasionally, when one had shed his antlers and the other hadn’t, they got comments of ‘how cute, you look so much like your little sister!’ It was a strange assumption to make no matter how it was looked at.

“So you’d be one of the few to actually get it right. You know some other twins besides us?” It seemed to Fletcher that the only way a person ever realized they were twins was for them to have met other twins prior to them. Couldn’t identify what you didn’t know about after all. “As for your other questions, yeah, a schtick is like a habit. And Thatcher has a habit of cheating in races and games.” Fletcher shot a look at the back of his brother’s head. Thatcher didn’t even have to look to know exactly what expression had settled on Fletcher’s features. It was always the same sour ‘I’d’ve won if not for you’ look.

“It’s called being clever.” Thatcher countered kicking another stone into a river with a strange flick so that it first jumped two feet into the air before landing with a solid plop in the water. “And I don’t cheat at everything. Just the things you’ve got natural talent in.” He shot a cheeky grin in Fletcher’s direction. Fletcher wasn’t amused.

cajmera

Sorry that took so long!

 

[Cajmera]

At Fletcher's comment about the lack of understanding of twin's, Cora couldn't help but be surprised. Perhaps it was genetic predisposition or a regional oddity, but twins, while not COMMON, were far from unknown in their old homeland. There had even been two other sets of twins in their former herd; a brother and sister pair like she and Corwin, and a much older pair of brothers. Twins were an accepted and frequently joked about thing there, but clearly this new land was different in more ways than she'd realized! True, she'd never seen any other twins since arriving here, but she'd simply chalked that up to not getting out much.

"Rehlly, twins are thaht uncoommon, loike? I wouldnae have thoot it was sooch a strange theng tae be seein,' boot I cannae be sayin' tha' I've seen any oothers or had any coonversaytions specefically pertainin' tae the subject," Cora said in a thoughtful voice. Hayalet, their host, hadn't said anything about the obvious resemblance between Cora and her brother; until this moment, it hadn't occurred to her that their closer relationship might be a mystery!

That said, it was amusing to see the annoyance...or what she assumed was annoyance...in Thatcher's face when he made what was clearly a mimicry of someone else. "Wehl, it IS poosible tha' yeh moight no' be broothehrs, yeh moost ken. Tis poosible tha' yeh could be father an' son, oor ooncle an' nepheh, or soome other sooch relation. Thaht's why I asked yeh oopfront, loike, because I dinna wish tae be makin' assoomptions." At that point, Cora's face broke into a wider grin as she said with no small amount of pride, "An' I loike tae thenk I would be knowin' a little bit aboot twins, seein' as how I'm one mehself." A fact which they'd be able to see for themselves, as soon as that truant sibling of hers actually showed up!

Though at the comment about cheating, the grin faded, replaced with a shrewd and somewhat displeased expression. Having been a mare determined to show up the boys in arenas firmly in the boys' wheelhouse, she felt a great deal of pride in her toughness and general ability. She couldn't be sure whether they were joking or not, but cheating was not something to take lightly. "Och, an yeh thenk tha' joost because yeh perceive yehrself tae be less skilled, yeh're joostified in breakin' the rules, loike? Dinna yeh ken tha' tae be improvin' yehrself, yeh nehd tae be coonstantly' testin' an' pushin' yehrself? Thehre's cleyverness, shure, boot thehyre's alsae sooch a thing as childishnaes," she said with a firm shake of her head. "Dinna yeh ken what an increhdible theng it can be, tae be winnin' at what yeh wherenae excpecting to win? An' if yeh dinna have experience wi' tha' sensaytion, how do yeh expecyt tae be feelin' it if yeh lack the faiyth in yehrself tae actually try tae win by hoonest maysures?"

By the time she finished speaking, Coralia was practically quivering with indignation. She might have been smaller than the stallions, but there was no mistaking the fact that she felt no fear, either at them physically or at their reaction to her little speech. But she had never been one to censor her opinions, and she wasn't going to start now. Really, cheating! The very idea.

Nisshou H

No worries!

 

[Nisshou H]

Fletcher hadn’t thought too much about it before but they hadn’t actually run into other twins before. Maybe they really were an entirely uncommon phenomenon in these parts. Cora seemed to think they weren’t that rare but she obviously came from somewhere else originally. It wasn’t until she declared herself a twin that Fletcher really understood her insistence that they couldn’t be that uncommon.

“You’re a twin too?!” Thatcher asked as his jaw dropped straight down. Fletcher looked at him questioningly. Something about the word ‘twin’ had helped him understand Cora. Fletcher just couldn’t quite figure out why Thatcher seemed quite so surprised. Were twins so odd of a thing that even twins found them to be strange? He smirked slightly at the thought.

“So that’s how you know so much.” Fletcher said with an understanding smile. “Are you identical too? Both girls?” Fletcher did what he could to ignore how Thatcher’s ears perked up at the notion of twin girls. Thatcher couldn’t help it. Twin girls meant there’d be one for both of them, it worked out perfectly.

Thatcher’s cheerfulness lasted about as long as Cora’s own as though their moods were directly tied together. Like his brother Fletcher, Thatcher was beginning to understand Cora without exerting himself too much. She was taking a bit of light-hearted rule bending far too seriously as though he had slighted her specifically with it.

“It’s just a bit of fun.” He grumbled scuffing his hoof against the ground. Cheating wasn’t something Thatcher took seriously especially not in the silly little games he played with his brother. They were only ever goofing off, just looking for a way to let loose for a bit after days of playing by Lorenna’s rules. What better way to keep things from getting to serious than taking off before the starting call or putting honey on the track or using those weird floating rocks in skipping contests so they’d never sink? Cora was talking like winning a race was the end all of accomplishments.

“Besides, it’s not like you get anything out of winning except winning and that gets old.” Thatcher looked her directly in the eye finding that her crossness was fueling his temper. “No point winning if it’s boring.”

Fletcher was getting the distinct feeling that something terrible was about to happen. Thatcher had clearly stuck a nerve of Cora’s with his cheating, a nerve they couldn’t have known existed or Fletcher never would have mentioned it. Thatcher’s cheating was annoying but it didn’t seem to be anything to get really worked up over. It only annoyed Fletcher because Thatcher was always doing it specifically to him. There were only so many times that you could trod in freshly laid honey before you got sick of it. So far as Fletcher knew Thatcher had never raced against Cora, unless they’d both managed to forget it which was doubtful, so there was definitely something else at work. Something that seemed likely to blow up in their faces if they didn’t step carefully.

“Do you like to race, Cora?” He asked starting to make his way around the pond toward her and away from his brother to hopefully draw whatever fire she had to throw their way. “You just, sound like you know what it’s like to beat someone in more than just a casual competition.” He offered her an amiable smile as he kept his dawdling pace towards her. If she wanted him to stop and stay away she’d have plenty of time to say something.

Cajmera

 

[Cajmera]

Coralia had been feeling surprisingly positive about this encounter so far. In spite of being strangers, the twins had been interesting and not the least bit hostile or suspicious. She'd actually been able to have conversation like a normal Soquili, without any of her normal tendencies towards hostility flaring up. Well, that HAD been the case; apparently it was inevitable for her encounters to end up going astray.

Fletcher and Thatcher had no way of knowing just how badly Cora thought of cheating, or the reasons behind it. They had no way to know that Cora had felt responsible for protecting herself and Corwin from the evils of the world even before they lost their father to a skinwalker. She had resented her femininity; it was bad enough being a naturally dainty flutter, but adding the smaller stature of a mare to the equation had made it even worse. She had fought tooth and nail to be taken seriously by the males in their herd, and savoured every victory in the training ring.

Needless to say, she had not been the most popular of mares. But that had never bothered her; she had never craved affection or admiration from anyone but her brother. If the other herd members had been put off by her competitive attitude, at least she was able to enjoy the knowledge that she was one of the best. Or had been, before almost all of the rest of them were killed.

She had never allowed herself to think of anything as 'just a game', so Thatcher's attitude was a bit incomprehensible. Everything in life was an exercise; preparation for something further down the road. Everything was to be taken seriously, whether it was a race or a conversation. And at the moment, she was feeling very serious about this one.

"Sure, an' I'm a twin; sence the momen' I was born, seein' as how I was the yoonger o' the two of us," she said with a slight clipped nod. "Though weh're no' in the same setuation as yehrselves; weh look verra similar, loike, boot thehre are a fyew pehrtinant differences, seein' as how Cory is a stallion." Unfair differences in Coralia's mind; ever since they'd hit puberty, she'd been jealous of the physical advantages her brother had gotten. Though still dainty (he WAS a flutter, after all!), Corwin was taller, broader, and more muscular than she. And in spite of all of those advantages, he STILL didn't take the world seriously enough.

But that was small potatoes at the moment, since Thatcher obviously disagreed with her on the importance of integrity in all things. She kept her slightly narrowed eyes on him, even while Fletcher started to make his way around the water in her direction. Fletcher seemed a sensible fellow, at least...or at least, that was the impression he was giving. But was that the truth? "I cannae say I am mooch of a roonner; it isnae a skill tha' teynds tae be stroong wi' many flootters, tae moy knowledge," she said in response to Fletcher's question while still eyeing Thatcher. "Boot I try tae wehrk on roonning an' oother phehsical exercises regularly, tae be stayin' in shape in case of emergency, loike," she said in the same slightly clipped tone. "Semtimes, thehre are more empoortant thengs tae be worryin' aboot than joost bein' bored, and yeh can easily be findin' yehrself wishin' yeh'd been more dilligent, back when yeh had the time."

How many of their former herd had thought that in their last moments/ How many had wished they'd been less lazy, less complacent?

~~~

Darn it, he was running late. Properly late, not the casual 'oh sorry, I was just over that little rise and arrived a few breaths after we said we'd meet' late. Late enough that Coralia was going to be thoroughly, thoroughly annoyed with him, Corwin thought with an upset sigh. He'd just gotten so wrapped up in what he was doing that he's lost track of time; that was why he was currently running as fast as he could in the direction of the pond. The sooner he got there, the sooner he could start calming his sister and the sooner they could actually get down to talking and visiting.

He was expecting a lot of things as he came into visual range of the pond. He was expecting Cora to be in a pet, he was expecting that the next several minutes would be spent discussing it. He was NOT expecting Cora to have company...though it looked like he was right about her being in a pet, if those narrowed eyes were any indication.

Wow, he thought as he cantered to a stop and took in the scene, What have I stumbled onto? Is Cora actually trying to be social? Amazing, he reflected as he folded back his wings, partially obstructing the dark, unsightly scars that ran across the right side of his body.

In his friendly, gentle voice, he called out, "Am I tae be interrooptin' soometheng if I were tae be joinin' yehr little group?" Hopefully not, but one could never be sure.

Nisshou H

 

[Nisshou H]

Cora’s twin being a boy was unfortunate in Thatcher’s mind. Being identical twins practically attached at the hip had always made dating a bit tricky for both Fletcher and Thatcher. If only one of them managed to get a mare interested then it left the other alone since neither wanted to be a third wheel and mares seldom wanted to have attentions split. If they managed to find a pair of mares that were both interested they tended to be close friends. Things tended to go topside at the first fight with either pair. Friends sided with friends and brothers sided with brothers and in the end the number of romantic relationships that the cerynei brothers had would fall right back to zero. It had just seemed like twins would work better with twins since other twins likely understood the twinly bond.

Fletcher had absolutely no idea what Thatcher was thinking about only that he was upset about something. He could take a few guesses given the circumstances and one of them would be right but instead Fletcher found he could make use of his brother’s blissful silence and try to keep patching things.

“Can’t say you’re wrong about the running.” Fletcher said in agreement. “I know a flutter pretty well and she either walks or flies if she wants to be quick.” He laughed a little at the thought of Lorenna, she was very different from Cora. “She’d agree about keeping in shape in case of emergencies, though. We all would, never know what might happen that you have to be ready for.” Fletcher hoped that he could calm her down some by being agreeable and, more importantly, by ignoring her comments directed at his brother. Unfortunately Thatcher had the worst timing known to the whole of soquili kind.

“Look, if yer roonin fer fun there’s nothin’ t’be ‘dilligent’ about!” Thatcher exclaimed suddenly. He hadn’t meant to adopt a mockery of her accent but he decided that it probably drove the point home well enough. He also decided he really didn’t care if Cora’s twin was a boy or a girl. Cora was obnoxious and rude and her twin couldn’t be any better.

Fletcher wanted to either slam his head into a tree or throw Thatcher into the water. Possibly even both. He settled for shoving his shoulder against Thatcher’s, hard. “Would you stop that?” He hissed. Leave it to his brother to only make things worse. “Look, he didn’t mean that. He-” Fletcher’s words were cut off by an entirely unfamiliar voice. Both Fletcher and Thatcher looked up, the fighting temporarily forgotten, to see who had arrived. It was a stranger’s voice but an entirely familiar face. Almost.

“Woah, that’s weird.” Thatcher said. The newcomer had Cora’s face but it was thicker and most definitely male. Same hair, same wings, same markings but somehow they still managed to look almost completely different, and yet exactly the same. Thatcher felt dizzy. “Is this how people feel when they see us?” Thatcher muttered to his brother.

“I have no idea.” Fletcher said weakly experiencing a sensation similar to vertigo. If it was he suddenly completely understood why everyone was always so confused. Finally remembering his manners Fletcher called back to Cora’s twin. “No, no, you’re welcome to join us just so long as your sister’s okay with it!”

Cajmera

I’m really sorry for the extreme delay on this! As you know life kinda kicked me straight in the face and then Fletcher and Thatcher just went radio silent. Hopefully they’ll actually stick around now.

 

[Cajmera]

Oh dear Spirits...

As he made his way over to the little group, Corwin was struck with the sharp realization that he'd walked into a potentially explosive situation. While he'd initially been stoked to see his sister socializing, he'd only needed to catch the last bits of the conversation between Cora and the one brother to see the trouble. Cora was openly hostile, with narrowed eyes and rigid posture, and though he'd only caught a fragment of what she'd said, he knew she was calling someone out. And clearly, that stallion hadn't appreciated being called out, retorting in what Corwin could only take as a derisive parody of his and Cora's accent. Though not given to offense, Corwin couldn't help but frown at that; he was aware their accent was unusual and could make conversation tricky, but it was a part of them and he was proud of it.

Still, while he believed in supporting his sister, he wasn't going to jump into anything half-cocked; instead, he increased his pace and smoothly slid into the group between his sister and the aggressively posturing brother. Giving everyone a smile and the cordially welcoming brother a nod, he looked around the circle with what he hoped was a calming manner. "Wehl, shoore an' weh all sehm tae be seein' double, dinna weh? Thehs is a truly ehnterehsten' setuation, loike." Glancing at his sister, he raised his brows slightly as he asked, "Dinna yeh thenk yeh should be makin' ehntroductions, loike?"

Cora wasn't stupid; she knew exactly what her brother was doing when he stepped into the group. However, she didn't know whether she was mad at him or not; she knew she was miffed at that Thatcher, trying to justify cheating in the spirit of 'fun.' But Corwin's arrival gave her an moment to gather herself, which wasn't a bad thing, and Fletcher, at least, deserved a bit of courtesy. At least HE wasn't being a pig-headed cheater!

"Fleytcher, Thetcher, thehs would be meh twin broother, Corwin, though I'll be soospectin' yeh already guessed thah," she said with an honestly sweet smile at her brother. He might have been late in arriving, but at least he was here now, whole, intact, and obviously none the worse for wear! "Corwin, thehs is Fleytcher...an' his twin broother, Thetcher." Thatcher's name was accompanied by the barest hint of a glare; she might be trying the 'mannerly' thing, but that didn't mean anything was forgotten! "Fleytcher was joost sayin' thah they ken anoother flooter wha' actually flies for quickness, isna tha' interestin'?"

A corner of Corwin's mouth quirked upwards at the introductions as he fought the impulse to laugh; even if he hadn't noticed the inclination of Cora's head, he would have known which twin was which from the tone of her introductions alone! Clearly, Thatcher was the brother which which Cora was having words, and Fletcher was the other. Good to know. "Wehl, it is a playsure tae be meetin' booth of yeh; weh havenae seen many oother twins in thehse parts, sae it's nice tae be knoowin' we're not such an oodity, loike," he finished with a chuckle. Inside, he was letting out a huge sigh of relief; at least for the moment, Cora was breaking off on the attack.

Still, he stayed where he was, hoping neither of the combatants would feel like ramming through him OR Fletcher! Looking back from one brother to another, he picked up the conversation thread quickly, hoping to simply bury the awkwardness with a judicious subject change. "Yehr flootter friend is a speedy flier, then? She moost be a remarkable mare, fehr I've nehver felt mehself tae be very speedeh when it coomes to meh wengs." Smiling in a self-deprecating fashion, Corwin raised his wings from where they'd been folded over his back. "As yeh can see, moine are bein' a wee bit floppy, loike."

When he raised his wings, Corwin's back and sides became exposed, displaying the dark, ugly mess of scars the crossed his entire side. Though he had long since stopped thinking about them, they were dramatic and potentially disfiguring; as things stood, it was Cora who truly felt sensitive about the exposure. Her protectiveness towards her brother was no limited to physical danger, and the moment Corwin's wings lifted her eyes darted rapidly from Corwin's scars to the brothers, the anxiety and unspoken threat almost palpable in her gaze.

Nisshou H

No worries; I'd rather wait for inspiration than get something forced any day!

 

[Nisshou H]

Fletcher immediately caught on to what Cora’s brother was doing. He was doing exactly what Fletcher himself had been trying to do, running interference to stop a pair of hot heads from attacking each other. Fletcher felt a surge of gratitude to the spirits that he was reasonable. Really Fletcher wouldn’t have known how to handle three uppity individuals not when he could barely handle two.

“Good to meet you Corwin.” Fletcher said while trying not to wince at the still palpable loathing Cora was emitting concerning his younger brother. He tried to give Thatcher a warning look to say that he needed to behave but Thatcher didn’t seem to need one at the moment. He was sufficiently distracted by the new arrival and probably would be for a while.

“Hello!” Thatcher said casually and cheerfully to the other male. It was still slightly disconcerting that he looked almost just like Cora but he was moving pretty quickly past that. At least he wasn’t a stubborn irritant. “We haven’t met others either really. Kinda rare I guess.”

Fletcher nodded his head and added, “Or they just live somewhere else. Still, it’s good to meet others!” He felt like they had just had almost this exact conversation with Cora. At least it seemed to have cooled his brother off. Thatcher had always been quick to get fired up but he also tended to let things go just as fast so long as Fletcher could distract him long enough. By tomorrow Fletcher wouldn’t be surprised if he’d forgotten ever getting into a bit of a spat.

“Lorenna? Yeah she’s the best! Good enough to get picked by the spirits and tough enough to take on an entire kalona heard!” Thatcher’s pride in Lorenna was clear in his voice and on the positively foolish grin on his face. Fletcher and Thatcher owed a lot to Lorenna. She’d looked after them when they really needed it even though they’d fought her over it. She’d never let them down even when times were dark and she only occasionally snapped at them to shut up and let her get on with her work.

He was so lost in his happy thoughts about Lorenna that he very nearly missed what Corwin was showing them. Fletcher did not. Fletcher couldn’t help the sharp intake of air when he saw the scars that decorated Corwin’s back. It brought back memories, bad memories of a time not too long ago, a time that could have left both Fletcher and Thatcher with similar marks if not for the good grace of a unicorn. Fletcher’s sound had drawn Thatchers attention to the one-time wounds and he flinched remembering the same time that his brother was.

“You’ve been in a battle?” Fletcher asked his tone cautious knowing that he was treading on potentially dangerous ground. It was either a battle or someone had just tried to maul him to death. Neither was pleasant but to the young stallion it was important to know. With Lorenna their work included collecting intelligence on potential threats. Corwin’s wounds looked pretty old but that didn’t mean that the threat of whatever had happened had passed.

Cajmera