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 Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 9:48 am
 Once more the blood bay Jala was on his way to try and get fruit and vegetables from the two-leggers. Though, it had taken a bit of practice the other day, for he wasn't quite sure how to get one of them to approach him. Now though, after having it for the most part figured out, Aitumn continued on his way with a rather brisk step. Luckily, after a few days, he had found nothing to be seriously injured, and as such, was as lively as ever. Perhaps even more so it would seem, despite the weight of a basket swinging between his teeth. Oddly, the Jala still had the feeling of chewing on the handle, but decided against the taste it would bring to his tongue.
Flicking his lengthy midnight tail, the stallion did happen to ponder about if he'd happen upon Lucius on one of these trips. Perhaps it would have been a better idea to tell each other of their exact location, but the Jala wasn't one to worry about such things. As a wander, many things happened by chance. If he and Lucius were to meet up again, it would be by the hand of fate; nothing more.
That still left him with one more problem though. How on Urin was he going to get the two-leggers to approach him once more? He had been rather distraught the last time, and he did feel quite unatease asking for such things like food from them; but Cressida liked it. So he supposed that was more then enough to do so.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 3:40 am
Lucius scanned the world below him and, spotting the cleverly made dwellings of those he sought, swooped into a dive. Careful; he hadn't done this in a while and was therefore probably a bit rusty on high-speed landings, no sense risking injury at a time when he so needed his health. The stallion banked, soaring around in a loop in order to decelerate a little.
As he did this, he spotted a familiar figure walking along, basket in mouth. The red-maned Aeri continued his decent, altering his course to come down close to the blood bay. The ground rushed up towards him and the boned Aeri reached out with his fore-hooves to greet it. A series of heavy thumps and a few trotting paces to rid himself of the last of his inertia later, Lucius stood before the black-eyed Jala.
Setting down his basket he gave the storyteller a smile. "Aituimn, good to see you again," he greeted the other stallion with a bob of his head. "I've just come from your tree, which I was fortunate enough to stumble across." He'd have to give the feather-winged Nequus directions to his own tree before they parted again; there was an inequality of power to him knowing where to find Aitimn but the Jala not being able to find him. If he had either liked or respected the bay a little less he might well have enjoyed having the high ground but, as it was, he didn't like putting the long-tailed stallion in a weaker position.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 8:30 am
For quite some time the blood bay had kept a good pace towards the two-leggers home, though still with his own mishaps. Certainly he would have to figure out a way to get them out there again, for Aitumn believed the last time to be a total fluke. Why? Well, the Jala just didn't think his luck was that great.
Though it was the sound of rushing wind and loud thuds that got the bay's attention. With a flick of a single ear the stallion followed the movements, his own matching the other as he shifted his gait and angle slightly to get a better look. Oddly enough, he hadn't felt this good in say a few weeks. Why? The guilt to whatever Zak had told him was replaced with a sort of grudge if you will. Attacking a fruit, not just any fruit, but his own flesh and blood? That was enough to get on any stallion's bad side as far as he was concerned.
Wait a minute, his hollow eyes caught sight of the familar figure, as well as the voice that followed. Praise fate, such a thing much be in his favor. Setting his own basket down from between his teeth, the Jala dipped his head in greeting. "Good to see you as well Lucius, I kinda figured we'd bump into each other along the way sometime", he mused, flicking his lengthy midnight tail out behind him. Though at he mention of the tree Aitumn did happen to chuckle slightly. "Well, that's one way to do it. I'm guessing you've met Cressida then?" He was curious after all, to what the Aeri had thought. Where Aitumn himself, had grown to carry a sort of admiration for her.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 8:45 am
The tall stallion bobbed his head. "Yes, I have met her. We talked for quite a while actually; she seems like an interesting mare, a tough one too." Giving himself a shake and tucking his wings into his flanks, Lucius gave the other stallion a grin. "I hear she gave that green git something to think about; quite a mother that fruit of yours is going to have."
How much of a family would the horned and the feathered be? From what he'd gathered the two got on well, which was good. It seemed fairly sure that the two of them would stick together until the child was grown; possibly even stay close after that...
Perhaps his parents had been accidental acquaintances too, kept the tree with its single fruit healthy until he hatched. Why would they have gone though? They hadn’t been there when he’d emerged. He suspected that he'd been born too early leading to the weakness of his youth... Had that perhaps been because the two Aeri had argued and perhaps left? Perhaps somebody, seeing them go, had knocked his fruit down hoping to eat it only to see it move and start to split.
...Why was he even wondering about this right now? It didn't matter anymore; it had hardly mattered then. Blinking rapidly a few times the black stallion recalled himself to the present and shot a smile at Aitumn. "Sorry, I was miles away for a moment there."
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 9:13 am
The blood bay gave a bob of his sleek head at that. Certainly Cress and that horn of hers knew how to take care of business, but she was highly entertaining as well. Especially when they got to messing around and trying to get the last nudge or forelock tug in. Heh, he did have fun with little stunts like that.
Though at the mention of Zaknafein Aitumn couldn't but give a slight, quiet snicker of a chuckle. "Yeah, sent him off without much of a second thought it seemed liked. As for the fruit, I don't think don't think it should have to much to worry about with her around", he spoke once more. Still, the stallion was still a bit of wary of others like Zak, ones with the need, it seemed, to thoroughly loathe a cross breed. And though Cressida seemed more then capable of handling the situations quite like that, Aitumn still carried the burden himself. Against a brute with Zak, who through his weight around like nothing else, Aitumn didn't stand much of a chance with the sort of combat they had been in earlier. But the blood bay was a reckless sort of fellow, and didn't doubt he would have staked everything on the line if there was no other choice. A bit of a morbid thought, yes, but the blood bay wasn't the type to just lay down and allow someone to take on a full burden.
Oh, yes, the conversation. Pricking his ears at the sound of the others voice once more, Aitumn gave a shake of his own sleek head; sending a wave of movement through his lengthy mane. "Not a problem." Taking a glance down at the basket he figured the Aeri was heading to the same place as himself. Well, at least Lucius would be able to 'talk' to the humans a bit better then himself. So, problem solved it would seem.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 9:23 am
Noting Aituim's glance down, the Aeri recalled the purpose of his trip. "I don't think we needs go very much closer," the black stallion said with a nod. "Two-legs love us; all we have to do is attract their attention with some suitably loud noises and they’ll come running out, grab the baskets and go to fill them." He hoped that slim filly was about today, she smiled nicely at him and stretched behind his ears around the bone helmet sometimes.
"Shall we?" Lucius suggested, nodding first down at their baskets and then at the buildings ahead. The sooner he had the basket filled the happier he would be. Galloping off again right away wasn’t necessary; Lydia still had some food so there was no great rush but he would still feel better once he had a parcel of supplies on the ground at his hooves. Knowing the two-legs would bring food was different to seeing the food with your own eyes; not quite as reassuring as the physical evidence.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 9:41 am
Well that certainly explained a few things to the Jala. And here he just thought the two-legs were doing things because of being asked to do so. "Sure", the sooner the better it would seem. For Aitumn was quite eager to meet up with the interesting two-leggers once more. They were certainly odd, and the Jala needed more inspiration for his tale of the Nequus speaking two-legger. Perhaps he would find a subject for the main character while he was there? Prefably a foal of the species, since he thought that would make his story a bit more entertaining.
Well, that, and the stallion's mind had been on foals for quite some time now. In a smooth gesture the stallion picked up his own basket between his teeth and carried it over his tongue as usual. It was still an odd sensation, as he found that the handle would have been a great place to chew on. As for the taste, he wouldn't quite care for it too much.
Eh, he'll get to that later, perhaps after the fruit had hatched and there was no need of it? Hmm, no, he should bring the basket back to the two-leggers, but he doubted they wanted the handle chewed off. Ack, poor Aitumn had to resist the temptation once again.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 9:54 am
Lucius grabbed his own basket and trotted along at the Jala's side until he judged them to be close enough to the dwellings so as not to weary the two-legs with running back and fourth. Coming to a halt and setting his basket down, Lucius lifted his head and let out a loud whinny.
Clearing his throat, he turned to Aitumn with a smile. “That ought to do it I think."
Indeed, a moment or two later, a pair of two-legers came trotting out of a nearby structure with wide smiles on their faces. He wasn't excellent with judging two-legs yet but Lucius could tell enough to know that both were fillies and had he been asked to guess their ages he would have gone for yearling. He knew that development among the odd creatures was slower than among Nequus and that it took far more than a year to reach the stage that the two females were at, but the terms still seemed to work well enough.
The orange-eyed stallion whickered softly at the pair and nodded down at his basket. Sweet little things two-legs foals were.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 10:05 am
Pricking his ears at the structures around him, Aitumn nearly forgot to let down his own basket, but that wasn't important right now. The Jala was intriqued in studying their movements, and perhaps just how they seemed to stay upright. Augh, if only he knew more about their interaction, then maybe his tale would be a bit more believable; which is how the stallion prefered to keep them.
With a sigh, he figured he'd just have to do with what he had. Oh, wait a minute, they were here already? Well, Aitumn didn't space out often, but he when he did he usually didn't catch much of anything that happened around him. Which perhaps wasn't he favorite thing to do, being caught off guard and what not.
Setting his own basket down at his hooves, the Jala let out a soft nicker of his own at the two fillies, hoping to catch their attention before they went trotting off with Lucius' basket and not his own. Ack, that would have been quite rude of him; making them go back after bringing one basket of fruit out.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 10:44 am
Lucius watched the girls’ movements carefully as first one of them picked up his basket and then the other Aitumn's. Such clever things their hands were and those fingers too. From what he'd gathered and seen though the 'thumb', that differently placed finger, was the key to all the things they did.
Once the two-legged fillies had hoisted the baskets onto their shoulders, they turned around and hurried off towards what Lucius was coming to think of the food-store structure. It would certainly make sense for all the food to be kept together and he'd never seen it come out of anywhere else...
Oh, yes; the thing to mention to his companion. "Aitumn," Lucius began, turning to the other stallion. "I realise that you may well already have thought of this but it occurred to me and I felt it best to mention just in case. Now that this Zak character has been repelled from your tree it occurred to me that, were I he, I would try to catch you while you were away from it. Just something to keep in mind perhaps," the orange-winged Aeri suggested with a nod of his skull-clad head.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 11:03 am
Phew, it was good that they had picked up his basket as well, for the if the Jala was anything, rude was far from it. Perhaps one of these little one's would make a good character for his tale? Possibly. The stallion's hollow gaze shifted to follow their movements, taking in any possible details he could remember, and hopefully something that caught his interest in color and such. Hmm, they didn't seem to be like Nequus, with easily distinctive coats. Unless they were related? He had only seen few of the creatures before, so perhaps there were a few other colors in the breed. Ah well, he'd just make something up off the top of his head, that seemed to work fairly well when he tried it.
Flicking his ears in the Aeri's direction, Aitumn did happen to catch the statement directed at him. Unfortunatly, such a thought had occured to him late in the midnight hours, supposedly in his turn to sleep. Slowly, the Jala gave a bob of his head before turning his gaze towards the bone-clad. "As unwelcomed such an encounter would be, I'd rather have it, must it come to pass by the hands of fate, away from the tree. Otherwise there's a chance he might get to the fruit. I do trust Cressida and her skills with a horn, but I'd rather not take that chance", the stallion spoke evenly.
Perhaps it was just him, but he had detected a slight hardness to the corners of his own voice. Perhaps it was just his lack in speach that caused such a thing, but Aitumn didn't take a threat to his child lightly. Much less by a creature he knew to be violent.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 1:06 pm
Lucius gave a slow bob of his head. "Yes, I must say that if I knew I had to be involved in a fight," not that he objected to fights per se but this was theoretical talk in any case, "I'd much rather it wasn't around the fruit." Or Lydia come to that. Much though he believed in her, she was small and somehow the stallion couldn't imagine that she'd ever trained in combat. Better that he, large strong and armoured, take on any physical threat that came their way. It was the duty of the strong after all to defend those not so fortunate as they in such matters.
"Well, on a lighter note," the brown-marked Aeri said with a smile, "I was wondering if you'd concocted or stumbled across any good stories of late. If you have I should love to hear one." He did like stories... Perhaps Lydia would tell stories to their foal and he could listen in. Perhaps he would tell stories too; he was sure he could remember some that he'd overheard as a colt if he really tried.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 1:26 pm
Well, at least it wasn't just the Jala who shared such points of view. Though he of course wasn't exactly battle charged, he was rather reckless and hated it when others tried to take an upper hand in an encounter. Well, he had enough of those encounters to know he wasn't completely out of his league when it came to Zak; so Aitumn wouldn't be too worried about that. As long as he kept a cool head that is.
Pricking his ears at the mention of something that was fool-proof in getting his attention, the Jala allowed a smooth grin to form on his maw. "You're in luck friend. I've been working on a tale since we first stumbled upon each other here, and though there's still a rough spots I have to figure out, I've gotten most of what I want to put into it down and ready", the stallion spoke, shifting his gaze over towards the building the fillies had run off too. He'd probably have enough time to tell it, so Aitumn wasn't going to rush himself.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 1:40 pm
Lucius smiled and swished his thick curling tail at a small cloud of flies that had started to buzz about him. "Excellent, please do tell. It is too seldom I meet one skilled enough with words to make their own tales and I must say it is a pleasure every time I do." Aitumn would definitely have at least on aspect of parenting down pat. Foals and stories went together like grass and daisies. He could imagine little eyes looking but at the Jala, spellbound by some telling or other... Perhaps his own foal and Aitumn's could be friends when they were born. It was good for foals to have lots of friends.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 3:03 pm
"And its always a pleasure to tell my tales to the willing ear", Aitumn responded with a flick of his lengthy midnight tail. Though now he had to prepare the tale to be told, set the plot he wanted into stone, and nearly make up half of it as he went. Hmm, it would have been a challenge for the blood bay, had most of his stories not already been told like that. Heh, he especially liked the one he had told Niz about. But, back to the present.
"For as long as the ages could tell, Nequus and two-leggers spoke very different languages, one that could understand the other, and one that could not; thus communication was lost between the two races. Despite this though, they had gotten along fairly well with each other, if not a bit awkwardly in their encounters.
However, as time progressed and encounters between them grew fewer and fewer, for times for the Nequus were good, and food was as plentiful as far as the eye could see; the little communication and understanding between the two seemed to vanish altogether. Such a thing had allowed for uprisings within the human territory, like Nequus there were some who struggled for power and supermicy over the others. With the vanishing of the Nequus, many of them had grown to be un at ease with one another, believing it to be a bad sign to the world of Urin."
The stallion stopped then to unfold a single feathered wing, gesturing slowly to the many odd structures around them. "You see they had always been willing to help out their neighbors, the Nequus, and could not understand why none had come in such a long time. Feeling confused, a certain stallion of the group, with eyes and mane as dark as the pitchest of nights, one evening allowed for his fury to show. He shouted to the little gathering of the Human herd around him that the Nequus had abandoned them, and that the only way to bring peace back to their existance was to take control of the herd. With or without their concent.
It was on the quietest of mornings, with a gleeful sun just barely peaking over the ridge of Casa Tiner, that this stallion began his conquest. Stroding proudly on two-legs, as Humans do, he demanded the role of leader. However, when many of the herd elders disagreed, things turned a tad bit violent. It was a shock to the peaceful creatures, that such actions would be taken by such a rash youth, for he couldn'thave been any older then the youngest of fully grown stallions. He, with eyes black as the night sky, would neither allow anyone to leave or come without first asking his permission... which was few and far between. As of yet, the elders would not give up their position, but the herd was in trouble and believed it to be punishment of some sort for not trying to seak out the Nequus.
Despite this, there was one youth, a bright young filly who had always felt a bit out of place wherever she was. But her parents had always told her stories of the Nequus, how they were friendly and respected by the Humans, and how they use to always get food for the creatures. So when the herd fell into trouble, she couldn't quite believe it was punishment; and slipped away from the group to travel outside of their territory for the first time alone.
It was dark, very very dark, and the filly knew that sooner or later the stallion would know she was missing. And so, she hurried along as far as her two-legs could carry her, and as long as the little food she had brought would take her. When her time had nearly run out, and it seemed like she would sooner starve then find anyone to help her... she spotted an odd color off in the distance. Not only that, but she heard the chatter of a conversation not far off.
Unable to muster up the courage to approach, for fear of the unknown in the world of Urin, the filly called out in near desperation. It was a call she had never heard herself make before, as if another being had whispered into her ear what to say. Oddly enough, it had sounded quite alike to a Nequus' nicker.
Not far off, where two stallions stood chattering amongst themselves about the day and what not, the conversation suddenly came to halt. "You hear that?" One of them had spoken up, quite confused. The other, however, had been keeping an eye on the surroundings, and was rather interested in a figure he had seen off in the distance. "Yeah, I'm gonna go check it out. Cya later, Ajax", he had responded, eagerly trotting off with an indifferent flick of his multicolored tail.
The stallion, tall and slim with the elegant step of an Ichsa went off in search of the voice. It had sounded rather young distressed, which had him a bit worried that it might be one of his foals returning from its playtime game. The Ichsa stallion, with golden coat gleaming like the morning sun, found himself staring down at a rather unusual creature. "Two legs?" he had mused aloud, quite beside himself.
"I was only born with two", the filly spoke up, startled that such a creature could talk to her.
And of course, the Ichsa as well was startled, if not a bit frightened that a Human, creatures he was told about as a foal, could even understand him. As far as he knew, they were primative creatures that only understood gestures. Was this a trick? An illusionist many? Certainly, which put him into a foul mood after that. Ajax was always playing tricks like this on him. "Haha, very funny", he grumbled between his teeth, about to go pick a bone with the other Nequus. That had been one illusion too many.
Seeing her only chance of hope begin to turn around leave, the filly quickly put herself into the stallion's path, upper limbs stretched out in hopes of making him stop. "Please sir! I... I need your help. Something terrible has happened..." she pleaded, not quite sure how he could understand her, but not about to ask questions either.
Well, the Ichsa had had enough of this game, and planned on walking right through the illusion... only he didn't quite get to do that. The filly had been knocked down quite easily when his muzzle pushed into her chest, and that more then anything startled the poor Nequus. After some persuading, and believing on his part, he agreed to help the filly with her herd.
When they appeared back to the filly's home, they saw that most everything had gone to chaos. Humans were running around in mass confusion as it seemed a select few were trying to give orders. Having heard the tale the filly had to say to him, the Ichsa knew of the situation. Quite honestly, he had come from a disfunctional herd, and didn't quite like seeing this one. With head held high, and elegent wings stretched out in what could have been irratation, the stallion approached the masses.
Luckily for him and the filly, the mere sight of a Nequus was enough to startle the Humans out of what they were doing, as many elders praied for salvation, and others mercy from whatever forces had brought them into contact with the first Nequus in ages.
It was with the help of the young Human filly beside him to translate, that the Ichsa explained the situation with the Nequus and why they hadn't appeared in so very long. Not only did he do that, he promised to bring more Nequus back to visit the Human herd as often as possible; which helped calmed the nerves once more of the two-legged creatures.
Finally, the stallion with eyes and mane as black as the night sky, was the most relieved of the bunch. And though he stepped down from his tyranical rein, the elders of the herd still had to make sure nothing like that would ever happen again; and invited the Ichsa and the Nequus speaking filly to live amongst them, in hopes of keeping communication between the two races strong."
With that, Aitumn took to partially unfolding both of his feathered wings in a sort of gesture that the story was over.
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