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 Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 11:38 am
All was peace and sleep and safety. It was a mild night given the season and not a gust of wind nor drop of rain nor flake of snow showed itself to bother the denizens of the valley. There was not even a cloud in the sky to promise weather to come; the heavens were pure black velvet with a scattering of diamond stars, unknown in number and unmatched in beauty.
The Aeri swished her short tail and smiled slightly to herself. Doubtless the effect would have been more impressive were it a full or crescent moon rather than one of the less dramatic stage in between.
Ah well, one couldn't have everything in life and in any case, this part of the valley was always beautiful to the spotted mare even on the most dismal of days. The sense of belonging it gave her was a more powerful attraction than all the wondrous sights told of in distant lands put together.
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Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 11:55 am
 A large blue stallion moved slowly through the tall grasses, cloud like markings adorned his powerful legs and bright red eyes stared out from his skull. The night was his favorite time of the day, his silken tail drug across the grass as he moved forward. Even with his massive size Hasani was rather graceful looking more like a dark ghost floating through the field than a bulky stallion plodding along.
Pausing he flared out his massive leather wings and flapped his wings working the muscles hidden beneath his skin, he rarely flew even though he loved soaring through the air.
Sighing the navy stallion looked around wondering if any other creature was out on this beautiful night. Tossing his mane Hasani trotted forward, his neck was arched and his long mane whisked softly against his powerful neck.
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Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 12:06 pm
The soft sigh and the heavy hoofbeats carried easily through the still air. Nyx smiled to herself and set off for the brow of the hill, she was sure the sounds were coming from the other side. It wasn't long before she reached the top, her long legs made easy work of the gentle slope.
Peering down, the Aeri mare made out another moving shape by the light of the stars and the moon of unromantic phase. Like her, the Nequus below was tall, strongly built and leathery-winged.
An Aeri stallion.
How long had it been since she'd met a male of her kind that she hadn't known since her fillyhood?
It mattered little, even if it had been only the previous night the spotted mare would still have set off down the hill towards him with a whickered greeting.
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Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 12:19 pm
He skidded to a halt and his large ears twitched as he heard the nicker and pounding of hooves. Turning his massive head Hasani saw the Aeri female galloping towards him. Tilting his large head he let out a nicker back to her and turned to face the oncoming mare.
As she galloped forward he got the chance to look her over, her coloration was strange and beautiful and it made him want to study it more. Nodding his great head the stallion waited for the mare to stop galloping.
“Greetings to you, I’m Hasani.”his voice was deep and rumbling like far off thunder and it echoed from within his massive body. The stallion bowed to the mare before him tucking one leg under his massive body. He stayed like that for a moment before pushing his body back up. To stand before her once more.
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Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 12:35 pm
Nyx felt her heart do a back flip; handsome, gentlemanly and with one of the most alluring voices she'd ever heard. The orange and blue mare returned the bow by lowering her head earthwards. This was turning out to be an even better night than she'd expected.
"Greetings, Hasani. My name is Nyx; welcome to the lands that I care for. They fall between the rise over there," the blue-eyed mare nodded to another small hill some way off, "and the copse in that direction," another indicative toss of her head, "Grass, berries, water; anything that you need feel free to take and enjoy for as many nights as you choose to stay here."
The brightly coloured mare felt herself hoping fervently that he would stay for a good long while.
If he chose to stay permanently perhaps she would finally be able to satisfy the elders and take a mate to manage the herd along side her. It was a premature thought, Nyx knew, but she had no desire to banish the romantic fantasy.
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Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 12:57 pm
He nodded his head in thanks “you do well to manage these lands by yourself, but I’m curious why a beautiful mare as yourself hasn’t found a mate?” He cocked his head slightly to the side his long forelock falling into his face casting shadowy strands over his bright red eyes.
He was watching her with great interest most often he found himself captivated by her blue eyes, strange emotions stirred on the depths of his soul that made him question how far this could truly go. Hasani had once meet a mare who had caught his fancy with her love of the night but nothing like the emotions he was feeling now.
A smile graced his muzzle for a moment as he watched her and he blew his forelock right back out of his face so that the blood red eyes could see her with total clarity.
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Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 1:25 pm
Beautiful? She'd been called pretty, cute, sweet, even striking but never beautiful before. And to be thought such by such a specimen as the one that stood before her only increased the compliment. Nyx smiled shyly and flicked an ear in a shrug.
"Umm, thank you and... well I suppose the right stallion just hasn't come along yet." And when handsome stallion did come along it generally wasn't bright splotches they were looking for.
"My life would be a lot easier if I had someone to share duties with," the mare admitted, "plus the fact that having a companion would be nice. I can't help but be jealous of the couple I see utterly wrapped up in their own little world." Aaaand now she was giving him too much information. Sounding desperate probably wasn't a good idea if she wanted him to like her.
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Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 1:42 pm
“Beautiful and smart you have many great qualities, any stallion that would turn his back on one such as you is a fool.” His words were the truth and he meant them, swinging his tail back and forth he listened to her next statement.
He nodded his head once more, “yes a life lived by oneself is a hard and terribly lonely,” Hasani had meet very few other Neqqus and mainly moved along by himself slipping in and out of the shadows. His ears were pricked straight forward and his silky tail swung slowly behind him brushing the grass back and forth.
For a moment he closed his eyes and basked in the starlight then opened them again, “if you would allow it I’ll stay here with you company Nyx.” Maybe it was to soon to be as open as that but Hasani really didn’t care.
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Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 1:56 pm
The mare gulped, oh wow. "I'd be glad of your company for as long as you'd like to stay," she managed with a shy smile. He thought she was clever as well and he actually wanted to stay at lest for a little while. It seemed a shame to Nyx that such a sweet-tempered stallion could be so lonely as Hasani seemed to be.
How could it be that he hadn't found a mate yet? That sleek coated, strong muscled body, the flowing mane and tail, the alluring colour and the rich voice not to mention the striking red eyes. If he hadn't just mentioned his dislike of life by himself she would have thought him the lone wolf type. That he seemed not to be pleased her inordinately.
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Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 2:19 pm
He smiled his eyes sparkling like the stars above “thank you,” he shook himself slightly and looked around eyes scanning the land he’d help Nyx care for. “I’ve never really had a home, I’ve always been just a wanderer…” now he was the one possible releasing a little to much info.
Shaking his head once more he shook the sad thoughts from his mind and chuckled, “but that doesn’t matter because I seem to have one now” and a beautiful mare to share it with, he didn’t speak the rest of the words that passed through his mind fearing that it was possibly to soon to speak of such outright feels so soon.
“Would you show me around? I’d like to get to know this beautiful land as much as you do.” He shifted dancing back and forth on his hooves with a lightness that was astonishing for such a huge stallion.
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Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 2:36 pm
Smiling to herself, Nyx nodded. "Of course, I'll show you around the perimeter first, then some of the major landmarks. After that's done I can introduce you to a few of the residents if you like," the mare said, setting off in the direction of the little rise she had indicated first."
"I've always lived here," the splotched mare told her companion with a fond glance at her surroundings. "My father was in charge when I was a filly and I took over when he died." No need to bring up the brief, bloody contest over who would lead the herd. She preferred not to think of it herself and revealing to a stranger, a stranger that she liked and wished to keep liking her, that she had battled her own blood for control was not an option.
If her good feeling about the dark-coated stallion was proven to be well founded, then she could explain why she had been forced to act as she had acted. Letting the peaceful group of Nequus she watched over be turned to a war band would have been a worse crime than causing her brother's death in the fall from the tall rock that they had battled on.
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Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 2:48 pm
He listened quietly to her story, “I never really knew my family my parents died when I was young and I didn‘t have any siblings as far as I know.” His eyes roamed over the land was they walked taking in the shape and form of it memorizing it appearance.
Hasani didn’t know what had killed his parents, nor did he want to know, he watched Nyx silently for awhile admiring her beauty as she explained the land to him. The stallion suddenly found himself thinking about a future with this mare and it made him blink in surprise.
He looked up at the sparkling stars overhead eyes searching the heavens above him, a shooting star passed above them and Hasani had to smile. He saw them as symbols of something good to come, slowly turning back to Nyx he wondered if his lonely nights had finally come to an end.
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Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 2:55 pm
Nyx gave her companion a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry to hear that, I can't imagine a life growing up by myself. Most of what I know I learned from either my mother or my father... I suppose you must have picked up the workings of the world all by yourself then." It seemed an impossible feat to Nyx. She'd met Nequus who had grown up alone as Hasani on several occasions but she never came any closer to knowing how they'd managed.
Necessity, it seemed, was once again proved to be the mother of invention.
The blue-eyed mare paused as movement caught her eye, halting completely and raising her gaze to the heavens as she spotted the star. "Beautiful," she murmured softly as she tracked its progress across the heavens.
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Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 3:13 pm
“I stayed in the shadows and watched the other nequus and learned how to survive on my own.” he shook himself slightly remembering some of the things he’d seen. Somehow Hasani figured that life would soon get better, he had a home and someone to share that home with if not as a future mate than as a close friend almost sister.
He smiled “yea…it’s only at night that one can see such a beautiful sight in the heavens.” He smiled flaring his wings for a moment as if he wanted to take to the air and chase the star but Hasani wasn’t the best flyer and so he stayed on the ground.
After a long moment he folded his large wings up once more and watched Nyx quietly his red eyes still glittering.
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Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 3:26 pm
Nyx smiled and nodded, trying not to feel embarrassed at the scrutiny she was receiving. Having someone consider her truly attractive was a new experience and she wasn't entirely sure of how to deal with it.
"Yes," the mare went on in response the other Aeri's comment about the star, "the ends of the day and night are my favourite times. Night because I love the stars and the moon, morning and evening because I love to see the sun rise and set. Amazing colours, even brighter than me," the tall mare said with a slight smile, settling her wings more comfortably at her sides. Maybe, just maybe, she would have someone to watch the shows that the sky put on with. Someone who was more than a friend.
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