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 Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2015 5:52 pm
Sticks, leaves, and branches floated gently along the slow-moving river, being carried away by its steady motion. Some would be swept into the sea, others would end their journey much sooner, and some... well.
The stallion splashed around mid-stream, chasing a particularly vibrant leaf with gusto.
Some were being fished out.
Owen held his wings above the surface of the river, though their tips tended to trail in the water as he dove towards the leaf. It just... he just.
Why would anyone put twigs and things in water? Not that anyone had done this, it had just sort of Happened, like rain, but he was convinced that there was some process behind it, some inner workings hidden from the common eye, and it...
Well. His eyes twinkled.
How stubborn was the driving force?
It wasn't that he sought to challenge nature itself, he just... liked to see what happened when he acted a little... off.
Scooping the red-and-burnt-gold leaf from the surface, he flung his head triumphantly towards the shore, and frowned lightly as the wet leaf clung to his nose for a moment before flopping back down into the stream. With a sigh, he started scooping towards it again, ignoring the chill in his ankles caused by the cool flowing water. The sunlight warmed the surface, but down below... oh, yes, things were quite cold.
A surface can be whatever. The surface of a face- changeable expression. The surface of a lake- calm, ploppy with rain, all messed up by a heavy wind. The surface of the earth- hills, trees, lumps, holes, grass, mud, water! So many things, yet at the core... Cores were harder to change.
He was an older brother. A care-taker, a provider in training, a lover of younger siblings and a parent's joyful pride. He was also playful, rather bold and unpredictable (according to his parents, anyway).
He smiled.
But there as always one, little Elen, who could see right through him.
His warm smile shifted to one of concentration as he scooped out a stick, and used that to try to catch the stubborn leaf. He was moving further downstream, leaving piles of small bits and pieces on either shore; he had been more successful in the beginning.
Come... here.
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2015 6:51 pm
 What was the purpose of all things?
Simple question on the surface, was it not? The purpose of all things was to live, and then die, like the natural stages of life. Everything had a beginning, a middle, and an end - whether it was the birds in the sky, the Soquili that roamed the lands, or the earthworms beneath the surface - everything was born, created, or made-up, and then everything died. Or was destroyed. Even the trees and the flowing river eventually had an end point. Yes, that was all very simple, an easy answer to an otherwise basic question. Anyone, really, could have given that answer. The purpose of all things was to live, and then when the time came, to die.
But...was it truly that simple?
On the surface of things (not quite so literally), everything did have an end. Yes. That much was unequivocal and unarguable. Nothing lived forever. Even the very earth itself had an expiration date, whenever that might be. But at one point did the 'end' stop becoming something so...final? The purpose for all things wasn't just to die after life was lived, but to live on past life - was it not? To be food for the newcomers, a memory of those left behind, and life beyond life was something to be cherished. The bright pink mare, as vibrant as the morning sun, had always fancied herself a believer in the things beyond what the surface held. The reason for all things, if you will - the real reason. Not the kind of things parents tell their curious children just to get them off the backs, but the stuff that mattered. All of earth's greatest treasures, from the smallest mouse to the largest buffalo, had a specific reason for walking these lands, and whether or not they knew it, their purpose mattered. To the mare? Most likely, no, if she was being quite honest - she cared about all, but even she wasn't capable of finding love for every single living creature. But they all mattered to something. Or someone. Their purpose may go unnoticed for a while, but it was always there. Always just waiting to be discovered.
Take the leaves, for example. On the surface, they provided the lands with beauty, a bright and vast green shade during the summertime, and a million shades of autumn, in the fall. But did it stop there? When winter came, and the leaves fell, did they signify the end of those leaves journey on earth, to be replaced by new life and new growth come spring? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Think of it this way, non-believers. The leaves were fodder for the smaller creatures that roamed the earth - squirrels, rabbits, even caterpillars - and they created their homes within those leaves. Dangers lurked the earth on a daily basis, and those leaves provided protection. Those leaves were more than just 'something pretty to see', and when they fell - they provided protection to the creatures who lived on the ground - the ones who were unable to reach them as they once were a part of the towering trees. They didn't fall because it was the end of their life - no, that was too simple of an answer. They fell because they had a different path to take. And as they fall, so to did the seeds of the trees, getting buried in the dirt as the hooves of larger creatures stomped the ground. As they found a new home within the dirt, rain would pour, soaking into the seeds, and as time grew, would become something more. Something bigger. That then, created more life. More life for the trees meant more life for the animals that lived among the trees. More life for the animals in the trees meant more life for the animals within the roots of the trees.
Everything came down to life beyond life.
But what about life beyond life? No one had experienced it - or rather, if they had, they were certainly not alive to tell their tales to anyone else. So what about it? How could one measure what was beyond life? How could one measure what it meant to have a life after death, or destruction? Adela simply couldn't answer that question, but it was all in a matter of belief. She believed that all things could be overcome, and appreciated, and understood, with just a little bit of hope, and wonder about the world beyond your hooves. The mare had had a dream once, not long ago, of a human girl who wished for the material objects that she held so dear to her heart. In her dream, Adela had told the girl that the material objects hadn't mattered, but what the material objects had done for her. The tea, she recalled (the dream was oddly specific), had meant so very much to the poor human girl, and she had none to keep her warm and safe anymore. But Adela, in her dream, comforted the girl, for the tea wasn't what had kept the girl warm, but the memories that the tea had held. It was more, much more than just tea. It was, living. Appreciating the things that all of life had to offer, and growing from them.
Life beyond life, whether in tea-form, death, or just a leaf falling from a tree. Life beyond life. Everything had a purpose, and a reason. You just needed to find it.
The tiny pink mare soared above the earth's surface, for at this time of day the way the sunlight hit the earth was truly magical. The sparkling of the lakes and river's water caught so bright that, in the right position, it could be blinding, and it was beautiful to behold from above. When alone, it was Adela's absolute favorite thing to do - but when with company, she much preferred the enjoyment of conversation. It brought warmth to her every growing heart, that so many Soquili took care in the company of others, but it wasn't every day that she was able to find another as willing. She titled her head; large splashes of a body moving within water could be heard not far from where Adela soared, and so she flitted her wings in a soft, gliding motion until she found herself hovering (albeit a bit far in distance) up above the body of what looked like a playful stallion. Or a...very large foal. Honestly, it was hard to tell from where she hovered, but whomever it was seemed totally happy with their current situation, and it pleased her. Her small frame had hit the sun perfectly enough to have cast a shadow near the stallion below, and she wondered quietly whether that would startle him into stopping what he had been doing. Oh! She truly hoped not! But...if it meant pleasant conversation, well then....she'd never say no.
The purpose of all things was to enjoy, after all.
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2015 8:00 pm
Owen's expression became one of quiet satisfaction as her scoped up the stubborn leaf, wading over to the shore to place it gently on the soil. There....
He wasn't sure how long he'd been at it; the passage of time was a foreign concept, especially when he was... busy. A quick catalog of his body told him: long enough for his legs to go a little numb but not long enough that the pain would shake him from his self-assigned task, long enough for the sun to rise a little higher but not long enough for a change of light... ah.
Darkness fell.
No, nothing so dramatic- just a little spot of shadow amidst the light. A very... interesting.... shadow. Owen smiled. He'd grown up with shadows like that; he knew that, whoever this was, they had wings.
The gift of flight was one thing he wished his sister could have shared. A beautiful, wondrous thing, soaring up high and just feeling... free.
Oh, he enjoyed charging about on the ground as well, and there was so much more to do down here, but up there... Yeah.
Facing the middle of the stream once more, he titled his head back, seeking the form that cast the shadow seeming to hover above his watery playpen- the river, unique and powerful in itself even though the strength of the rushing water seemed to be taking a day off.
Brilliant eyes a hue that had no business being in nature locked upon a pearly pink form outlined in the glow of pale sunlight. Or, you know, a pink mare with a golden mane. He'd picked out the general shape, for all that she was so far away.
He had good eyesight.
He grinned. "Hello!"
There were some things in life that were never certain. Some things that seemed to defy explanation, or at least be really really hard to put to words. Things, places, events... times.
One of those things, he'd always felt, was how two beings met. How two lives could come together, touching briefly before parting ways, or seeming to merge until two became one. How fleeting moments, little decisions like right or left up or down, blink or eyes open, could change the course of one's life simply because- like now, he could have missed her. Or, would she have hovered there, waiting or watching, offering him an opportunity to look up? Or just... moved on?
But, he hadn't. She hadn't. And here they were.
Hello.
What story will Our lives tell?
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Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 6:39 pm
Adela hadn't been hovered long, before the figure below her noticed her presence, which, she quickly realized, was a good thing. If it had gone on for a while, what would she have done? Stayed there, until he eventually did, come down to his level on her own, or simply fly off? There were many paths that their lives could have taken at that moment, but this was the one that had been laid out, and she was silently grateful for that. Every moment that passed mattered, whether one realized it or not, and the decisions you made - however small, however big, could play a role in the outcome of many events. If she had flown away, without a second glance, she'd be floating treetop level, most likely, soaring away until the darkness swallowed the light. But she wasn't, he had noticed her, and now, they would talk. What would become of this simple greeting, what could she take away from it, if anything? The excitement filled within her as she made her way down from the sky to the ground level, on the shoreline of where he stood.
"Hello!" She responded in a sing-song melody, leading her wings drape over her body as she relaxed her hooves on the grass. Within the passing seconds, the mare noted that this stallion was much larger than she had expected, being all the way up as she was. For whatever unknown reason, that pleased her, perhaps because of his demeanor; typically, in her experience, stallions took themselves much more seriously than they should. Was she....judging? Oh dear! A miniature frown formed on her face before she wiped it away with a knowing smile. No, Adela wasn't judging - she was simply, observing.
And taking notes.
Yes.
"I didn't want to disturb you, so I'm glad you noticed me!" With the same air in her voice, Adela giggled, dipping a dainty hoof into the water as she did. It felt nice, the water, and she pondered for a moment whether to join him in his little game, whatever it was. But for now she continued to stand there, hopeful of the conversations to come. "Oh but I do hope I'm not disturbing you now, I should never assume a hello is an invitation," Adela suddenly stammered, looking from her hoof to the stallion, then back down again. The thought was fleeting, but alarms went off within her and she had hoped, indeed, that she hadn't misread the situation. She knew, of course, that there were others out there who preferred their solitude, and the last thing she wanted to do was intrude - the very last thing she wanted to do was that! Adela had prided herself on knowing when others needed help - or didn't - and if she was wrong, oh...the disappointment already seeped through.
While anticipating his response, in the short seconds that lingered in the silence, the mare took in what she saw before her, the color of him was....radiating, she quite enjoyed his contrast against the blues and greens of nature before them. And his eyes - oh! Goodness, those eyes! More vibrant and bright than her own coat, it seemed. He was magnificent!
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