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 Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2007 1:00 pm
"But we're nae otters!" Scuttling along behind, the honey and cream filly made a rather great deal of work out of the terrain. For a smooth surface, it seemed rather difficult for the petite foal to keep her footing. While her father didn't struggle at all, she was somewhat clumsy and every now and then would slip to the point that her legs became splayed and her eyes became wide.
Now this was on the surface, the mere thought of entering the water didn't instil her with much confidence!
"Daddeh!" Her tongue rolled over the words, the mild yet familiar lilt inherited from her father, "Slow down!" She pleaded, lunging forward briefly to clamp her mouth around his tail as an extra source of balance. If she was about to fall, his tail would catch her - the perfect plan.
"Dinnae matter, it's a family tradition, ye all got te learn how te fish!" Flashing a small smile, Biscuit glanced over his shoulder towards the filly. His eyes glowed with a rare fondness and it seemed that the little girls presence was something he savoured - usually, she was off playing with her sisters or with others.
"It'll be fun, and I be promisin' that I'll be there te keep ye safe," He gave another bob of his head and kept walking, raising a brow as he felt his tail give a tug. His daughter was a clumsy one, unsteady on her feet but he suspected she would grow out of that eventually.
Nevertheless, it wasn't long before they did reach the shoreline and he located the region that was best for fish - it was deep but not so deep that the little one couldn't swim and he was fairly certain she would be a better swimmer than walker given her uncertain limbs.
"Jes' remember what I be tellin' ye - lil swoop and up. I'll show ye again once we're in." He reassured, although the filly was now gazing uncertainly at the water. At this point he wasn't entirely certain if he could even persuade her to go in.
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 7:12 pm
Angathi had decided... maybe he'd check out the shore, at least. If he stuck too far away, maybe the violent Land-ers wouldn't be able to get to him. Besides, could they possibly swim faster than him? A Knight? He didn't think so.
Even at his distance, the kelpi could feel the disturbed currents that two figures made in the sand. Unsure, but determined, Angathi swam closer. When he thought he was at a decent distance, he surfaced. The kelpi ex-Knight lifted his head above the water.
Even far away, he could make out the forms he felt. What he aw shocked him... they LOOKED similar to Kelpis, but not quite. Intrigued, he had to know. With his head still above the water and watching, Angathi swam to shore to check things out.
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Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 4:40 pm
Biscuit was fairly observant when he was with his daughter, always alert and prepared for attacked but only when it came to animals on land. He had heard stories of creatures of the deep, creatures with large teeth that could leap out and drag the unsuspecting into the depth but he'd never seen one. In all his time as a foal, colt and adult he had never encountered anything of the sort!
For that reason, he didn't even notice the head that had emerged from the depths and continued to look towards his daughter expectantly. His ears were perked, eyes warm and reassuring but still the tiny little mare hesitated and tentatively flicked out a hoof to touch the lapping waves upon the shore - she often gave a squeal as they touched.
"Come on then!" He called with a bemused chuckle, canting his head to the side as she turned her stunned gaze upon him. Or rather to something behind him...
"Daddeh!" With a wag of her tail she took a few cautious steps into the sea and gave a giggle, more of curiosity than fear as she'd never seen anything quite so unusual. "There's a head in the water!" She pointed out excitedly.
...Biscuit could do nothing more than look round and gawk at the approaching sight.
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Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 8:31 am
Angathi saw that he now had their attention. Whoever they were, he felt it would be fun to at least impress them. The stallion dove, waving his finned tail in the water quickly before it too followed him under. With powerful strokes of legs, fins, and tail, the kelpi swam towards the two. One was small, and easily no threat but the other was larger - and would need an eye kept on.
The broken Knight didn't think of too much more as he approached from under the water.
Finally, when he was too close to the shore to maintain an under-sea swim, Angathi emerged. The water rained down from his somewhat scaled head. His body fins glistened from the moisture. The stallion then walked closer as more and more water shimmered down his body.
When Angathi finally stood by them, he grinned down at the little one with a white smile. He had heard their language when he was far away, and recognized some of it. The kelpi formed the word before he said it: "Greetings!"
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Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 3:48 pm
"Daddeh! S'talkin!" She gave a squeal of delight as she tentatively pushed her way into the water until she was up to her shoulders. For all her father's effort he couldn't persuade her to get in and yet the sight of something so much like her daddy and yet so unusual...did. Wagging her somewhat stumpy tail, she came rather close to the stallion and stretched her nose out for an inquisitive sniff.
"Is it a fish, daddeh?" Swivelling her ears round she glanced briefly at her father before fixing her green eyes upon the stallion again. She had seen soquili with pretty wings, soquili with leathered wings but she'd never seen ones like that before, "Hello!" She replied with equal enthusiasm, clearly unaware of her father's discomfort.
In the meantime, her father could do nothing more than stare as his tiny daughter took to the water like a duck. In the face of something he'd never seen before he was rather stunned - adults always did find it hard to adapt and change but to have a soquili pop out of the water with a giant fish tail as a...tail, was a little farfetched even for the rake!
"No, he is nae a fish," He replied as he allowed his own nostrils to flare at the scent before fixing his gaze on the stallion warily. His daughter was there afterall, he needed to be a little more protective and guarded for that reason alone.
"Afternoon."
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Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2007 7:21 pm
As the little one stretched out to sniff, Angathi literally jumped back to stay out of her way. For all his own curiousity, he was not positive that these two - even the unthreatening little one - wasn't going to give him some disease or other. To be safe, he kept his distance.
"Not fish!" he snorted, eyes darkening to a more sinister look as he pinned his ears back in exasperation. "I am a Kelpi Knight!"
Angathi's tail lifted and slapped the water angrily. How dare they think he's a fish! He looked nothing like them; even the Mers looked more fishy than he was. Not to mention the four legs......
((Hehe, doooown boy! XD ))
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Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 10:26 am
Honey gave a squeal as the Kelpi snapped at her, she'd never been one to handle startling actions well and it was with this squeal that she darted under her father's legs. Peeking out from beneath his forelegs, she gave a little coo and allowed her ears to rest firmly against the top of her head - there was no need to shout at her! How was she meant to know if he was a fish or not.
"Daddeh," She whimpered, nudging at his chest briefly before turning her gaze back to the Kelpi who quite evidently didn't enjoy the concept of 'touch' between parties. For a filly so firmly set in her family ways, this was unusual and a little sad but she wasn't going to let him hurt her - No no!
"There nae be a reason te shout," Biscuit retorted sharply, his eyes narrowing as his little girl was frightened. Granted, she was curious and this 'Kelpi' was as foreign to him as to his daughter...he had a right to be defensive but she was just a baby - surely this 'Kelpi' had seen children before!
"She jes' be a lil filly," He continued before shaking his head, "And ye be having a fin jes' like a fish, she only be usin' her logic," His daughter gave a snort from beneath his legs, "What's a kelpi anyway?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 6:46 pm
Angathi shifted uncomfortably, unsure of what to do all of a sudden with the situation. He hadn't meant to frighten the little one.... but really, that was a rather low insult for Kelpis. But, he was still annoyed. Just to be safe, the stallion took a step back - closer to the safe deep of the sea.
"Regardless if she meant ill will or not; the comment was -is- a rather harsh insult among Kelpis." Angathi ground his teeth. "We know about how you Land-ers will eat and kill fish, and by calling us as such implies that you would stoop to such barbaric lows as to eat us as well. We may have fins, but that doesn't make us fish.... no more than a dolphin or whale is."
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Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 7:38 pm
"We do not eat fish," Biscuit replied sharply, his accent vanishing as he took on a tone that resembled his uncle's. The very thought of eating meat repulsed him and to be accused of such was an affront. Oh Biscuit could take a lot of flack but generalising him when clearly this thing had no concept of anything around him was not pleasant.
"She is just a child, she was not to know and more to the point you were but mere LEGEND!" He snapped, aware of the quivering weight underneath him, "To us you did not even exist, you were unimportant because you were not here - your rumours and incorrect assumptions are an affront!" He sounded most unlike himself, but it couldn't be helped. He wasn't a Kalona or a skinwalker, he didn't eat meat!
"There are many species of Soquili in this world, we are not all as despicable and low as those you speak of, in fact the majority of us are not -" He paused and canted his head to the side with a bemused chuckle.
"Do not make assumptions about those you do not know."
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Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 10:20 am
"Then what are you doing here?" Angathi snapped back. "Teaching the little one to swim? In the Sea? Where the currents could easily take her further out where she would slowly expire and eventually drown. Or worse yet, live for days as the part of her that was exposed to the sun dried up while that under the water became bloated with the wetnes. Only to have parts of her skin slough away on its own, or maybe picked at slowly by the creatures of the deep. And how long would she have survived that way? Three days? Maybe four?" For all his ignorance, he seemed familiar with what happened to land animals when they floated out at sea.
"As for the Legend, maybe you should take heed to such. We have legends of Land-ers too... those that kill for food and sport, take pride in torture and cruelty." The stallion's voice rose. "You.... Soquili... may not all be the same, but you also should not expect the same of those that may or may not look similar to you."
Angathi took a step forward, his red eyes swimming with emotion. "Do you think my horn is just for show, or even my fins? That the sea holds nothing but small fish and forests of kelp? There are Things in this world that I have seen which you couldn't imagine the size and horror. As such you should not assume that I am incapable of being a threat... especially when you are in MY domain!" His arrogance dripped from his voice as the old Knight took another step forward. The water only came to just below his elbows, and his scars were dull when compared to the glistening scales of his body.
((dadaddada dah dah BATMAN! XD *random*))
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Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 2:57 pm
Biscuit wasn't about to be intimidated by an aquatic plank! The creatures continued insistence that he was grouped into a clump was an affront, only made worse when the damn thing put words in his mouth! With one of his lopsided smiles he very slowly shook his head and seemed to look at the Kelpi as though he was nothing more than a naive child.
"Do you really think I would be stupid enough to let my child get in to such danger?" He enquired smoothly, nudging the little filly out from underneath his legs. While he had opted to stand his ground he would rather the tiny foal practised her swimming behind him, just in his line of sight. He had no intention of allowing her to get any deeper than he was and nor was he stupid enough to stand in a bloody pond for four days!
Moron. They may have been legend to Biscuit but at least he had been prepared to show a little more courtesy.
"As for your 'domain'..." He turned his gaze up towards the sun and then back towards the Kelpi's scales, the smile still on his lips, "How long until they dry out in...'your' domain?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 7:42 pm
Angathi snorted and tossed his head. "Why ask me? As far as I know, you may be the stupidest, most irresponsible father who ever walked the earth!" Which was true, since these two were the first Land-ers he had ever met. Sure, he had heard the stories, but they were mostly negative aspects of the earth-bound creatures. Very rarely was there a good story ever told.
"You know, I've never tested the limits," Angathi took another step closer to Biscuit, eyes gleaming. "Are you sure you want to be the first to try it out?"
The Knight would never touch the filly, who was young and innocent as far as he could tell... but this larger male... well, he was more experienced, and should know better than to talk as such to his betters! Angathi would have no qualms to teeth him a lesson.
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 5:05 am
"Hold your tongue, fish." Biscuit had definitely had enough. While his family always stressed manners the continued insults being cast upon his form were a little too much. Ensuring that his body language remained calm so as not to unsettle his daughter, he opted to make it absolutely clear that this thing had simply proved every foul legend ever made.
"For one who does not represent his kind very well, simply chooses to support foul myths as opposed to proving them wrong you have no grounds to speak," Moving back ever so slightly, the stallion waded back to his petite daughter and began to nudge her in the direction of another secluded spot for her lesson.
"You know nothing of these lands, if you had a brain you would learn to shut your mouth until you learn the truth as opposed to jumping to conclusions!" Oh Biscuit had tried, he had tried as hard as he could to not jump to conclusions but this stallion just pushed his buttons. If this was how those under the water really were then it was probably for the better that they stayed there.
"Now if you would excuse me, I have a lesson to teach." His tone was matter-of-fact as he nuzzled his daughter. Her swimming strokes were becoming much more confident and she barely struggled as she began to move away. In truth, the little giggle on her lips indicated that she was rather enjoying herself!
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 7:44 am
Angathi snorted once more, this time, almost all of his rage blew out with the irrespectful gesture. There was obviously no talking to this one. He seemed as thick-headed as the stories said... and all talk but no bite. The Knight no longer took him as any sort of threat, and therefore not worth his time either.
The Kelpi walked closer to land, his stance non-threatening but determined. He watched the little one and how she struggled. With the lack of a powerful tail her efforts looked rather silly. "Little one," he called to her and lowered his head to the water to indicate he was indeed talking to her (though he was further away), "Long, powerful strokes are best. Reach out with your legs, grab a 'chunk' of water, and push off from it. That will help propel you forward. Use your body for direction. Your tail is small, but will still help you as well. Good luck."
And with that, Angathi turned back to the shore and took his first steps on land. He raised his head to sun curiously and then looked back to the ground. After a few paces, he broke out into a trot, a canter, and finally a gallop. With a joyous holler, the old Knight found that running on land was not too much different than sea motions. How interesting.
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 10:09 am
--*time warps*--
Honey had stared wide eyed at the stallion when he had instructed her in the most appropriate way to swim. While she hadn't had time to thank him, with one look of agreement from her father she had taken them into account. Now, approximately half an hour into her lesson her strokes were much stronger and smoother - she thrust through the water with much more confidence than Biscuit had seen most foals do.
Clearly, she excelled in the water and that stallion (regardless of his lack of manners) had done her good. For that, the land stallion had sent a mental note of thanks and had proceeded with his lesson accordingly until at last he had left the little mare to her own devices and reclined a few inches away from the lakes edge to keep his eyes trained upon her.
Wagging her tail in the direction she needed to steer, she was ensuring that she remained close to the edge of the lake, but that she was far enough out to follow after the gleaming fish beneath her hooves. It was enjoyable to say the least and it made her giggle each time she got too close and they darted away!
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