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 Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 1:36 pm
One horse stood alone on the beach, as close as possible but far enough away so that each wave that hurled the salty liquid onto the beach didn't quite reach her. She was the only horse on the beach, she assumed; well, as far as she was concerned, anyway. She didn't particularly desire company quite yet. Not yet. She gazed out at the sea with her pale green eyes, searching for something. Besides her mane being blown by the strong winds, along with her muscular tail twitching every so often, she hadn't moved at all since she arrived in that spot. She blinked, continuing to scrutinize the sea with her searching gaze as she thought. Why did she always return to the sea?
She heaved a sigh and blinked several times, her eyes dry from the ever-blowing winds, and from scarcely blinking. 'That was a good few minutes' thinking time,' she decided, as she continued to gaze out at the ocean. She didn't know why, but she was able to think better by the ocean than anywhere else. 'I wonder why that is...'
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Posted: Sat Jan 27, 2007 11:43 am
"...some they like a pansy, and some they like a wall, but whatever you saaaaaaay...it's only human nature after aaaaaaaall! Deedle-dee-da-dee-dum!"
Peals of laughter echoed around the bay as Aku finished his fourth song of the trip - a particularly silly one mocking human courtship rituals, which, mostly for its amusing melody and ridiculous sound-effects, had quickly become one of Melantho's favourites. "Bravo!" she chortled, turning her head to congratulate the small feline on her back. "I love that song! Hahaha - oh dear - h'heeheeheeheehee...better make the next one a bit more serious or I'll breathe sand and choke..."
Her spotted companion grinned, showing all his teeth. "Okay - good thing it's your turn, 'cause I dunno how many serious ones I know..."
"Hah, point." The dark mare racked her brain for a song to sing, eventually settling upon one she had not given voice to in many months. "...mm, okay - ahem..."
Taking a breath, reminding herself of the first note, she began to sing.
"And I'd give up forever to touch you, 'cause I know that you feel me somehow... You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be, and I don't want to go home right now..."
Singing more assuredly with each note, Melantho remembered the first time she'd ever sung this song all those months ago. She remembered, too, who she'd been singing for. How things had changed since then. How far she, who had thought herself so mighty, had fallen.
"And all I can taste is this moment, and all I can breathe is your life..."
In her mind's eye, a little black filly, limping, huddled closer to her protector. Back then, the gaze of iron had caused no fear in her - only awe, wonder, perhaps more than a little worship.
"'Cause sooner or later it's over... I just don't want to miss you tonight..."
At those words, a sudden ache of longing began deep in her chest. She had left more than a home behind when she had turned her back on her father. The feeling only gave the chorus more power.
"And I don't want the world to see me, 'cause I don't think that they'd understand... When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am..."
Melantho swallowed hard, hearing her words echo around the bay. There was no one out there to know her. Not tonight.
But then a low voice started up from somewhere behind her head.
"And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming, or the moment of truth in your lies..."
Aku. He was singing the same tune, but words she did not know - he was creating the music as she walked, as she listened, as she thanked her lucky stars that she still had someone left to understand.
"When everything feels like the stories, yeah, you bleed just to know you're alive..."
Despite the lyrics, her heart was suddenly lighter. She sang the chorus together with him, wandering along the open shore.
"And I don't want the world to see me, 'cause I don't think that they'd understand... When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am... I just want you to know who I am..."
Neither creature had yet seen the Reya a little way ahead of them...which was probably a good thing. Had Melantho been looking, she would almost certainly have noted a more than passing resemblance to the creature she most - and least - wished to see that night.((The first song is called "Human Nature", I believe, and isn't mine. The second is "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls, and really isn't mine. XD))
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Posted: Sat Jan 27, 2007 12:22 pm
The gold Reya continued to stare out to sea, her mind drifting more than the waves. A sigh escaped her, but an ear twitched towards her side -- 'What is that sound?' She turned her head towards the noise that captured her attention, spotting a black creature coming towards her on the beach. 'Singing?' She blinked twice, watching the other reya; she recognized her as that breed instantly, although hadn't noticed the smaller, furrier animal on the other mare's back quite yet. 'I thought I was alone.'
She stayed where she was, her pale green eyes now fixed upon the other mare as she slowly approached, assuming that the other hadn't noticed her quite yet. That suited her fine, she didn't want to interrupt her song, after all. Her ear twitched again, picking up the lower tones of the rit after he began to sing, which caused her head to tilt slightly in confusion. 'Who else is with her? I don't see anyone else...' She snorted, watching the other Reya mare closely. Waiting for the other to finish her song, Cress stood there, motionless, listening to the song. Every note that passed her ears was pleasent; she hadn't heard anyone singing in ages. "Greetings," she called after she was sure that the song had ended.
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 7:11 am
The voice did not surprise her. The look of the creature, however, was a splash of iced water to an unsuspecting face. Melantho gasped and tensed, instinct howling at her to flee. She could sense Aku's fur bristling against her back, feel his claws digging into her flesh, hear his warning hiss. It was -
...no, it was not her. Not Clytaemnestra. Like her, but not her. Still the dark mare's heart rate refused to slow. "...You startled us," she began cautiously. "We thought ourselves quite alone. You're kin to Clytaemnestra? The big mare with the limp? Your look's familiar."
"Peace, Mel," Aku said firmly from behind her head. "She might not be - she looks kin to your Storm too. And we look kin to Them."
The black devils. Yes. They were of no feather with the wicked ones. And yet, she noted, Aku did not approach the strange mare, nor even dismount. Melantho's tails twitched heedless of one another, like a nest of snakes quarrelling over prey. "I'll not take chances," she said at length. "Not now. We've not come this far just to be destroyed. And she's not My Storm, Aku, you know that."
"Psh. Technicality."
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 1:58 pm
The mare blinked once or twice out of confusion, eyeing the two. What about her had been so startling? "I apologize for startling you, I hadn't meant to." She explained in reply to the other mare's statement, and the question needed no pause on Cressida's part for thought. "No, I'm kin to no one by that name. I have no surviving siblings, and I don't know the whereabouts of my mother. Honestly, you're the first horse I've seen in quite a long time."
Her tails twitched as she watched Mel, then craned her neck a bit as she noticed the creature upon her back. Must be a little friend of hers, she decided as she began to walk forward. "I take it this Clytmaesomething is your enemy?" She chanced, quite confident in her reasonings. She stopped a few yards from the ebony mare, tails twitching again. "I apologize once more for my rudeness. My name is Cressida. What might your name be, and that of your little friend?" She moved her head a bit as she asked the latter part of her question, so she was able to see the Rit.
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Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 4:34 am
"...Very well," Melantho allowed at length. "I'll take you at your word. Excuse my caution: Clytaemnestra is of a highly dangerous kind. Powerful, dedicated, efficient to the point of ruthlessness. She is...yes, an enemy. Of a kind. A former ally, one I much respected and admired, now under orders to return me to captivity or destroy me - I know not which."
"You'd know her if you saw her," Aku went on. "Mostly for the limp at first - one of her hind legs is damaged, she walks a little funny. And up close she's huge, patterned maybe a bit like you only...she looks kinda like the metal the humans have after it's been outside in the rain. Rusted. Patches of it."
Melantho nodded her agreement to the description. "Avoid," she warned. "Avoid like a nest of hornets."
"Bad, bad news."
Silently the black mare hated to speak of Clytaemnestra in such a manner, even now. "...Melantho," she said. "My name is Melantho. And the Rit is my brother Aku."
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Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 2:39 pm
"It's a great pleasure to meet the both of you," she stated with a polite dip of her muzzle before saying or doing anything else. "I understand. It's a pity you both are no longer allies, but what has passed, has passed, and it can't be helped," she stated. "I will remember your description of her and, as you suggest, avoid her if at all possible." She studied these two dark-coated creatures curiously as she spoke, blinking once or twice. They both had interesting coat-patterns, for sure.
"Your name suits you well Melantho, and yours as well, Aku. And although I fail to see a family resemblance besides color," she admitted with a smile, "I can easily understand how a sibling-like bond could form." Her eyes shone with curiousity, and her mind whirled with questions. It had been so long! But, she refrained from asking most of them, and brought up the one that had intrigued her the most so far. "If you don't mind too terribly my asking, how was it that you two met and became so close?"
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Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 1:46 pm
"We've known each other since we were scraps," Aku explained, having by now retracted his claws from his friend's back. "There's a lot of hate for black-coated folks back where we come from - all because of these black Bae-demons that terrorise Shrilal. They've destroyed some of the fruits belonging to Mel's father's herd, among others. So my folks tossed me out when my colour grew in. S'why I'm called Aku - evil. I like to think I've reclaimed the word."
Melantho nodded to Aku's story, thankful for the removal of the sharp claws. Much as she loved her friend-brother, she had no great love for his sharper appendages when they were lodged into her flesh. "It wasn't always that way," she said, carrying on the story. "Aku and I met not long after it started, the day he was turned out of his home. We agreed to look out for each other, since we both had black coats and would both be victims. He came away with me when I left the herd - Father was trying to force me to be a stranger's mate - and the rest is history."
"But now Clytaemnestra and her stallions are after us," Aku continued. "She's kinda like the lieutenant to Mel's father, and as the chief warrior of the herd she's in charge of all the soldiers. It was her rule that used to protect us both, despite our colours. Now it's her army that's out for our blood. Mel's father ruled us both traitors."
"Prices on our heads in land, fruit and servants," Melantho added, rolling her eyes. "The things people will do for wealth."
"So we're fugitives of a kind," the Rit summed up with a grin. "Mel's training so she can beat her father and win her freedom, but if she's gonna be able to do that we've both gotta avoid Clytaemnestra."
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Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 2:26 pm
The gold-coated mare listened intently to their story, nodding at parts where needed, and took a few steps closer more to stretch her legs than anything else. "It seems as if you two have gone through a lot together. At least you're not alone in all of it," she offered with a flick of her ear. "If by some chance I do happen to run into her, I'll send her off in the opposite direction you're in."
She dipped her muzzle, itching it against her lower foreleg a few moments, then raised it. That done, she glanced over at the ocean, then focused back on Mel. "One thing I don't understand, however, is the logic of most nequus. If the dark-coated bae were causing problems, why would they assume that any dark-coated species would be demons too? Seems to me they're short a few leaves on their trees to think such a thing," she said with a snort. I mean, come on. Sheesh, the logic of some of these horses...
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Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 3:12 pm
"They're soft Nequus in that herd, for the most part," Aku explained, choosing to remain on Melantho's back the better to converse with Cressida. "They're not used to threats or hardship, being protected by the herd all the time. Even the soldiers rarely see true battle. So when trouble does come along, it makes them wary. Superstitious. Once bitten, twice shy. They'd rather hate and shun black creatures than get stung again. ...Of course, that means the black ones get to suffer as scapegoats."
Wise words, Melantho thought to herself. So swift to frame my thoughts in poetry, but would I had my brother's thoughts to frame. "He speaks the truth," she confirmed to Cressida, "and here I stand as proof: I too am weak from such a sheltered life. My training tests me oft to breaking point. ...But what of you? How came you to this place? What kin have you? What herd, what land, what name?"
Aku nodded. "Yeah - have you got anyone looking out for you? Could be nasty if you run into Clytaemnestra's stallions and she isn't there to call them off. Without a leader, they're mostly just a pack of bullies."
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Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 4:16 pm
"Ah, that it explains it a little better then why they act as they do, but it still isn't a good reason," was her response to their explanations. She was caught off-guard, however, by the questions asked of her. "Well, there's a long story, but if you'd like to hear it, then I have no objection to telling it."
Her head turned towards the sea as her pale green eyes wandered over it momentarily before she spoke. "I have no herd, nor was I ever in one. It was just my mother and I for a time. Apparently, all of the other fruits on my tree had died. I never knew my father and don't know where he went off to, but my mother talked fondly of him, so I assume he was a good stallion. I think that's why most of my would-have-been siblings' fruits withered. When I was just a foal, mother and I were separated by a haughty and self-centered Ichsa stallion, who thought since my mother was raising me alone, that he could push himself in as a dominant father-figure. I don't know how that turned out, because he tricked me into getting lost in the mountains, but knowing my mother he probably got what he deserved. I don't know if she looked for me afterwards or not, but I haven't seen her since. That's it for kin, I suppose. I stayed in the lower part of the mountains alone, and when I grew a little older I stumbled across a group of humans and helped them out. That's how I acquired these gold trinkets as well as why a few locks of mane have been braided," she explained, gazing back at the two dark-coated siblings. "No herd, no land, no name save for Cressida, and no companion save my shadow. If I do happen to run into those stallion soldiers of hers, nasty situation or not, I'll set them straight. I have no patience for small-minded stallions."
"But enough of dwelling on the past, it's too depressing for my tastes," she said with a flick of her ear as she readjusted her wings at her sides. "Where are you and Aku off to? Staying sea-side for a while, or headed elsewhere?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 8:58 am
"We're heading on down the coast for a while, looking for somewhere to eat and rest," Melantho answered, indicating the long stretch of sand with a light toss of her head. "Aku needs to hunt, I need to graze, we both need to drink. Neither of us have ever been this far afield, though, so any information you could provide would be most helpful. - Aye, walk on with us if you will, even - should any hostile folk arrive, we shall be better protected as three than as two and one."
"And don't worry," Aku added with a grin. "You two can eat like civilised equines and I'll take my unsavoury dinner elsewhere."
Melantho rolled her eyes in mock-exasperation. "Horrible little carnivore," she muttered, swatting the Rit with her closest tail and laughing as he tried to pounce on it.
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Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 7:35 pm
"Thank you very much, a little company would be wonderful," she said with a smile, falling in step with Mel. "I haven't been to the ocean in a great while, but I have before, so if you need any information I will try my best to provide it." She laughed also as the dark-coated horse's tail became Aku's target. "Well, to each his own, I suppose. Out of curiousity, what brings you to the seaside in such a season, Melantho? Throwing off your pursuers, or just a change of scenery?"
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Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 10:23 am
"A little of both, I confess," Melantho said after a moment's thought, still entertaining Aku with her tails. She was used to his nips and clawings by now. "The ocean holds a great deal of power - sometimes it seems to me that I might gain a little of it myself if I spend enough time here. I need everything I can get if I'm ever to stand against my father. While he's no great warrior, he's huge: I'm working on the qualities he lacks rather than trying to stand hoof-to-hoof with him in sheer brute strength."
Not that it was likely to be enough, of course. Would any amount of power be enough to grant her freedom?
"And Aku likes to chase the crabs, the little horror," she added with a roll of her eyes. "Carnivores, eh?"
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Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 11:59 am
"A little of both isn't a bad combination, I think. A change of scenery is good for the mind and body," she said thoughtfully, then gazed out at the sea. "My mother used to take me to the ocean before we were separated, so I'm reminded of her whenever I come here." She returned her gaze back to her two new companions after another moment or two. She flicked an ear, listening intently. "Well, if you ever need any help, I'd be glad to lend a helping hoof," she offered with a bob of her head. "And yes, carnivores," she said with a laugh. "What can you do with them?"
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