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 Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:14 pm
"Wow, really?" Malachi looked up at her again. "You have six children? I didn't think you were old enough to have... um." The foal trailed off, embarrassed. There was no way to end that sentence without offending Verity somehow, and after a brief pause he hurried on, tripping over his words a little. "There's only four of us, me an' my siblings, but we're from the same tree, so I s'pose... well, I guess my momma's quite young." He flicked his tail idly, wondering what it would be like to have more siblings. He could teach them things, and show them fun places, and stop Rhinel from getting them into trouble... but then he'd be expected to be responsible, and he didn't think he was ready for that just yet. If he had younger siblings he'd have to grow up, and he didn't want to. It was too much fun being young.
"I s'pose," he went on, thinking about what Verity had said about love 'deep down', "that my family's the same. Momma's lovely, an my brother Hanyx is really sweet, but Rhinel can be a pain, and Sedna - that's my sister - is really funny sometimes. She takes after Dad. They both have weird moods, although not quite in the same way..." Sedna was far more prone to anger, whereas his father never showed such strength of emotion. He was just sad, some of the time, more often than Malachi understood. He frowned. "But you're right, I love them anyway. 'Cause they're nice, all of them, 'deep down', like you said. Even if they're annoying sometimes." Malachi looked up at her again, with a sunny smile that lit up his blue eyes. It was good to know that other families were the same.
This was definitely a good day.
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Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2008 8:27 am
What an obnoxiously perky little son of a nag he was. Undine smiled back. “I’ve had two trees, but they were fairly close together as such things go and it’s nice to know I still look fairly youthful...” An angry sister, and a depressed wimp of a father. One had to wonder how the little fool had managed to remain so bloody bouncy. Oh yes, of course; he was a fool. The tall mare shook herself and smiled again. “Still, yes, I find it amazing how annoying family can be at times, and how I can be furious with one of them but still love them at the same time.” It was quite enjoyable to slip these little truths in among all the lies, and very amusing how the little brat lapped it all up indiscriminately.
Smiling to herself, though not about what the stupid little foal would probably think, the Jala turned her attention to the world before them once again and peered around. The spot they were heading to definitely looked hopeful and indeed, a moment later, the glimmer of light on water caught the mare’s eyes. “Ah-ha,” she said, gesturing at it with one wing, “looks like there’s a little brook down there after all, good guess Malachi.” She really was going to have fun knocking him down once she was finished with him. Ha; perhaps he’d turn into as much of a dour grump as his father, that would be most amusing indeed.
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Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2008 3:18 pm
Malachi grinned. "Well, it was just a guess, but I'm glad I could help, anyway." He too could make out the pale glitter of sunlight on water through the trees. As far as he could tell, there was no one else about. Dappled shade, cool water, and peace - it really was an idyllic spot. His guess - educated guess, if he was honest rather than modest - had been lucky to lead them to a such a nice spot.
The colt glanced back up the hill, then down at the copse ahead, and the shallower slope that led down towards it. This bit he could run down without falling head over hooves. Probably. He pricked his ears, hoping to hear the burbling of the stream, but was disappointed. Not close enough yet. He sighed.
"Hey, Verity," he said suddenly, "I'm gonna go check it out. I'll see you down there!" Flashing his older companion a smile, the blue-coated colt turned to gallop headlong down the remainder of the hill. He was perfectly aware that he probably looked ridiculous - skinny legs moving too fast, too clumsily, his mane and tail pulled back by the wind - but he didn't care. Verity wouldn't care. So what if he looked stupid? It was fun. Almost as much fun as flying, and with slightly less of a risk of crashing.
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Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 6:23 am
Internally Undine rolled her eyes, but ‘Verity’ smiled at the blue colt. “Alright then, I’ll catch you up.” She had to work very hard at not laughing as the foal took off at his awkward, graceless run. Verity wouldn’t care. Hahaha. Little twit. Snorting to herself, the tall Jala trotted after her useful but thoroughly annoying companion, remembering to put a pleasant expression on her face as she neared the stream.
It certainly was a nice spot, she noted as she stepped under the boughs, it reminded her a little of the places she liked to go and relax in the herdlands only somewhat greener. It made her want to return home as soon as possible, made her miss the red peaks and the people who lived there fiercely. Soon, the tactician told herself as she came to a halt by the water’s edge, very very soon. Giving a genuine smile at this thought, the thought of seeing her mate and children once more, Undine bent her head down to the brook and drank deeply of the cool water. It was delicious.
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Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 7:43 am
After a moment, Malachi emerged from the undergrowth on the other side of the stream and splashed back through the shallow water. "I went to have a look over on the other bank," he said unnecessarily, "an' it looks like no one comes here very often. I dunno why," he added, looking around the shady grove. "It's beautiful."
He paused. Now he was in amongst the trees themselves, he could pick out a couple of types he definitely didn't recognise, and one of them had pendulous dark red fruits drooping from its branches. All were out of his reach, though, and - he glanced down at the floor - none had fallen recently. Perhaps they weren't ripe yet. The colt sighed to himself. He'd hoped, when he saw the trees, that he'd be able to bring back something unusual as a present for his family.
...but it was still fairly early in the day. He perked up again. There was plenty of time to find somewhere that had ripe fruits (hopefully nice ones), and with Verity's help he'd be able to reach them, even if they were as high up as these ones.
Turning to the Jala mare, fidgeting a little as he spoke, Malachi asked, "Where d'you want to go after this? This looks like a nice place - d'you want to explore it, or head on somewhere?" Secretly he hoped she wanted to stay to explore, because he did. If she did, maybe he'd ask about those fruits. Maybe she'd know if they were ripe enough to eat.
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Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 3:33 pm
Oh, there he was; she’d more or less felt the shape of his thoughts floating about nearby but hadn’t been able to pinpoint him. The mare smiled, and began to wonder if her face was going to fall off from repeating the expression so many times. “Oh, there you are, good... Well personally I’d like to stay here for a while if it’s all the same to you, though it’s a shame the sangui-drops aren’t ripe; they’re one of my favorites.”
Those things were very tasty, and very rare back in the herdlands, too; she was finding abundance of all the great delicacies here and was having to work hard at not gorging herself. It would do her no good, after all, to return looking like a fat lazy slob; she had an image to maintain and, in all probability, repair. Her disappearing act would cost her, she was sure, especially as she couldn’t explain her reason for leaving to any save a select few if she was to keep her magic a secret.
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Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 3:59 pm
It was like she could read his mind. Malachi shuffled embarrassedly, then to cover it spun round and peered upwards at one of the trees. "Oh, is that what they're called? Sangui-drops? That's an... odd name, but, I suppose, the drops bit is appropriate," he finished, tilting his head to one side to regard the fruits from another angle.
"It is a shame they're not ripe," he added after a moment, dropping his head and turning towards the stream. "What do they taste like?" Must be good, if they were one of her favourites. He'd have to keep an eye out for those trees again, in a few weeks time, when the fruits were likely to have ripened. Malachi glanced round again, frowning as he fixed the details of leaf, trunk and slender shape in his mind.
He bent his head to take a drink from the cool stream, and decided as he drank that he probably didn't mind staying around here for a while. It was the sort of place where, if he'd been with Rhinel, they would played hide-and-seek, or 'ambush', or some other game that took advantage of the shadows under the trees. Verity wouldn't want to join in with something like that, but there were still plenty of place and things hidden in those shadows that he could explore. That they could explore.
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Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2008 7:15 am
Undine frowned up at the tress, trying to think of a way to describe the taste to her companion. “Sort of... sweet and spicy,” she said eventually, “it’s the flesh that’s sweet, and the little seeds that are dotted around inside that are spicy. Have to say the seeds are the best bit in my opinion; if you get enough of them together and put them on a rock you can mash them up into this lovely paste; delicious.” She, of course, had never done the mashing herself; that was a thing for slaves to do.
Lowering her head once more and taking another grateful drink of the water, the tall Jala reached out towards the sound of the little foal’s thoughts. Could she dig in? Actively search for something? She groped vaguely at his mind, but it seemed the harder she tried to probe it the more it slipped away from her. Deciding that she was probably doing it wrong and that she could try it again another day with another person, Undine lifted her head back up and gave herself a shake.
“So then, do you want to have a bit of a wander around now?” she asked of the aeri with a tilt of her head. “I’m still fascinated by pretty much everything I see in D’ob; it’s so different to home.” Fascinated wasn’t the right word at all but it was a good one for Verity to use. Undine was interested, Verity was fascinated. Egh. The sooner she could stop being Verity the better; the persona’s egregious cheeriness was beginning to grate on her nerves.
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 1:52 pm
The fruits sounded nice, and Malachi nodded as Verity explained. He'd definitely have to look out for them, although collecting and mashing seeds seemed like a bit of a waste of time to him. He'd rather just eat the fruit.
When she asked if he wanted to wander around the area, his ears pricked up. Of course! He glanced around - which direction first? Which looked most interesting? - until he caught the brindled mare's mention of her home.
"What's your home like?" he asked, instantly intrigued, plans forgotten. He'd never known anywhere other than D'ob or, briefly, the Fruitlands. He could barely imagine what mountains must be like, or the sea, or anything really, outside of his limited sphere of experience. Of course in his foal's mind he greatly underestimated such things - to anyone who had seen it the sea that Malachi thought of would seem garishly bright and far too calm, and his idea of mountains looked more like large hills. "You said you came from... the west?" He frowned as he tried to remember what lay in that direction. Mountains, he thought, but he couldn't be sure.
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 2:13 pm
Undine nodded to the foals question. “Yes, I’m from the western mountains; Fyhi tel Oren, or the Mountains of Fire. It’s a good place to live, provided you’re in the nicer spots, and there’s never any shortage of food or water... That said however,” the Jala went on as she looked about, “it isn’t anywhere near as plentiful as this place is. You sort of have to know your way about, or know somebody you can ask, if you’re going to find the nicer things to eat.” Mostly she asked Dahak to tell Virgil to leave things in her sleeping cave for her, but there you had it. Life was so much simpler when everything was in the proper order; she certainly wouldn’t be able to do her job properly if she had to be forever looking for food.
“It has lovely views, of course,” Undine went on after a moment, “and it helps to be agile if you’re wanting to get from place to place swiftly. In general there are easy ways to go everywhere, but they tend to be longer than the steep paths and the winds you get can make flying dangerous if you’re not very good at it.” She rather missed those winds; flying in D’ob was positively boring, no challenge to it whatsoever. Still, she’d be home soon and then everything would be better. Yes. She wouldn’t linger here much longer; sweet Jala alone knew what was going on in her absence.
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 2:34 pm
"Oh. Wow." Malachi drooped a little. Agile and good at flying? He wouldn't be much good there, then. That was a shame - it sounded both fun and a nice place, and he'd thought maybe when he was older he could visit it and Verity at the same time, but... maybe not. The blue colt sighed to himself. He'd just have to practise, lots, and get good at flying and climbing steep paths and clambering through rocky places and things like that. He'd be no good as an explorer if he couldn't cope in places with rough terrain.
...Well, he could work on that. Not here, not in front of Verity, because he'd look like a fool, and he didn't want that. But he'd go off exploring without Rhinel again, sometime, and this time he'd fly to wherever he decided to go. Yes. Malachi nodded to himself, decision made. For now, he'd leave it, but he would be good at those things some day.
He looked back up at Verity. "Uh... you asked if I wanted to wander 'round a bit? Can we do that? Which way d'you want to go?" He looked from side to side, then shrugged. "I don't mind, both directions look fine to me, but i think we should follow the stream an' the trees, otherwise it'll just be, well, more hills and grass I guess." He shrugged again, shaking his dark mane, watching Verity with wide expectant eyes.
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Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 7:27 am
Oh bloody reya, now she actually had to go exploring with the little drek? Undine snorted to herself, and decided that enough was enough. “I’ll go whichever way you aren’t going, worm,” she said coldly, Verity’s smile dropping from her face to be replaced with icy chill. “I’ve had my fill of your babblings so let me make a few things clear to you.” Pinning her ears back, the tall mare paced toward the aeri foal and glowered down at him.
“I don’t like you, and I don’t want to explore anywhere with you ever. You and your ignorant, foolish, oh-so-trusting and perky nature are just about enough to make me gag. Do you know what I am, boy? I am a Katilenuck, one of those touched by Jala’s dying blood. We have no patience for the lower races, and believe you me putting up with you for long enough to get what I wanted was a trial I never wish to endure again.” Snorting to herself, the tactician looked the foal over again and shook her head. “I’d teach you a lesson in respect right here and now, but I don’t feel like getting your blood on my coat so count yourself very luck there; next time you happily bound off with a stranger you might well not be quite so lucky.”
She was feeling better for giving the brat a good telling to already, and she briefly considered letting him know that she was a Seer but quickly decided against that. Far better for her herd if her powers were not known to outsiders; the element of surprise was always worth maintaining. “In any case,” the blue and white Jala went on, “explore this dull little spot alone if it pleases you, but I think you’d be wiser to run home to the nag that spawned you. The world, brat, is not a nice place, and for a little drek like you it is not a safe place either. Just think how sad your pathetic little family would be if somebody were to stove your stupid grinning little face in one of these days.”
For a moment, Undine considered doing just that herself, but on second thought she found it a much more satisfying idea for the fool to live on with his nice little ideals shattered. Perhaps he’d think twice before gamboling over to the nearest stranger in future and save some poor Jala the trouble of smiling and nodding to him. Those of her people who lived out here really were far too indulgent of the lower racers, and indeed many didn’t even seem to realize their birthright, poor creatures.
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Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 2:19 pm
"Wh-what?" Malachi stared. He could hardly believe what he was hearing. Blood? ...brat? ...drek? What had happened to Verity? She'd seemed so...
And then he froze, mortified. She hadn't been real... not the Verity he'd spoken to, the one he'd liked. This one, with her icy expression and disdainful eyes - she hated him? She'd only put up with him to get what she wanted? Dimly, he supposed that must mean she'd wanted him to lead her to water. Gods, he'd been such a fool. The foal swallowed, blinkig back the tears that pricked at the inside of his eyelids. No. He wouldn't make a bigger fool of himself if he could help it.
He shifted, and held his head up in fragile and nervous defiance. Uncertainly, he shook it. "Verity - that's probably not your name but I don't care - y-you can't be right. Momma wouldn't - I wouldn't - I don't believe you!" He ended on a shout, then flinched back from the blue-patterned mare who was not Verity.
He flinched. And he realised that he did believe her. At least he believed what she'd said about blood, about lessons, about - stoving his face in... Suddenly overcome by fear, the dark-coated foal edged clumsily backwards along the bank of the stream, eyes never leaving the tall mare.Some practical part of him said that he should not blink, should not turn away, should get away from here as fast and as far as could. He only half listened to it. He needed to be sure.
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Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 2:38 pm
Undine snorted and rolled her eyes. “Well, believe what you want to believe; it makes little odds to me and it would be quite amusing to run into you again some day as a slave. Might teach you to hold your tongue a bit rather than gabbling at people all the time, or maybe your owner would have it pulled out; we sometimes do that to the more willful slaves you know.” Pathetic little drek was on the point of tears, she couldn’t decide whether to be amused to exasperated that yes, he genuinely was surprised by her words. Idiot.
“In any case,” the tall mare gave a disdainful flick of her tail and turned away, “I’m leaving now, and I hope to Jala I never have to see your stupid face ever again. You’d better hope you never see me again, either,” she added with a glance over her shoulder and a sneer, “next time I see you I might be more in the mood for blood.” With these words, the Katilenuck mare turned away and, after a few running strides, launched herself into their air with powerful wingbeats, leaving the blue foal and whatever psychological scars she might have given him far below. It was time, Undine felt, to head for home.
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Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 2:59 pm
Malachi watched her fly away, watched until she was no more than a dot only slightly darker than the sky, and tried not to think. Her words were running still in the back of his mind - hold your tongue... would have it pulled out... mood for blood - and the images invoked by them would not go away when he closed his eyes.
But said blue eyes were watering only from looking at the bright sky when he finally turned away. It had been... he glanced up at the sun, with no idea how long he'd been just standing there. There was still most of the day left. He had plenty of time left to explore, but he'd lost all enthusiasm for it. And besides - the foal glanced around fearfully - what had she said about the world being a dangerous place? Was it really safe to be here? Did he really want to stay out here on his own?
Malachi closed his eyes and sighed miserably. Home, then. Home, and hope he didn't see her again. And he wouldn't speak to anyone else. Even if they seemed nice, they might not be, and he couldn't face it. He sighed again, and turned to walk back up the hill.
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