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 Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 7:59 am
While she struggled and grunted at her predicament, she neglected to notice that Esper had moved towards her and was planning to fix the situation entirely. It was rather amusing to see him destroy the bush and still remain so quiet- if it were her she probably would have yelled 'Hyaaaaa' or some other crazy noise. But wow, her tail was most definitely free. Rather then trying to untangle herself, Esper had destroyed the problem completely. She liked the way he thought! "Thank you." she then said, while bowing at him kindly. She then waved her tail a bit and smiled at the feeling of being free again.
Her ears flicked when she heard Esper speak again, and she watched him carefully and wondered if he was attempting to answer her question. She was surprised to hear him ask a question back, but was also impressed that they were still able to communicate together. Hm, so where would she go? She hadn't really thought up a game plan. Usually she just... wandered along until something interesting came about. Maybe Esper preferred a different method?
"I was thinking about following this trail upward and seeing where it goes." she turned her eyes forward and hinted that she meant just going straight. It became apparent to her that she had said quite a few words to him, and she wondered if he could translate them in a better method. "Where this trail goes?" She supposed, at least. Who knew how far the trail went, or where it would take them. But that was rather exciting wasn't it?
She felt sort of silly that she didn't have an actual idea of where they were in theory. Maybe Esper knew of something better?
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Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 11:21 am
Somewhere a Shaman was in mourning for the complete destruction of the bush and the now 'battered' spirit within. Esper was fairly certain the bush would be fine though - it may be a little squashed but that simply meant it would have to grow across rather than up. It would be a talking point for the spirit within it, to discuss the reason as to why it was a munchkin in comparison to it's kin but perhaps it would paint a valiant tale and forgive Esper for the abrupt manner in which it had been dealt with. Suffice to say, Esper was not one for talking when the solution was so simple...negotiation could be done later and frankly the spirit had trapped Usagi first so it was at fault.
Judgement made; time to move on!
And she had... She had returned to her previous subject now that her very fluffy tail was free and was making an attempt to answer him. It became clear very quickly that she was a mare who lived life as she wanted to and nearly all her decisions were spontaneous. Her vague answer (or rather gesture) made it easy for him to understand. She honestly didn't know where she was going - all she knew was she was walking that way a.k.a where she had been heading before he had replied to her not long ago.
In a manner of speaking he knew what lay further up the trail and was not adverse to it; this in mind he gave a curt nod of acceptance and readjusted his position so that he was facing the right direction. He would let her lead; he got the feeling she was a young mare who did well as a hostress or similar to it when she was given the chance.
...Well, the chatterboxing gave him that idea anyway.
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Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 8:23 am
Wow, so she had won herself some company? When she saw her acquaintance give her the final 'word', she hopped forward and started walking with a natural sounding glee. This was so exciting! Hopefully she wouldn't embarrass herself... but then again, that tended to happen all the time. It was just moments ago when she tangled herself all over the place, and she'd be lying if she didn't suppose it could happen again. But life was too short to worry about all of those things. She was now given a sincere moment she could enjoy, which also meant she was now in charge of giving Esper some nice company. Hopefully she wouldn't screw up!
When she had started walking ahead of Esper, she realized she needed to turn around and make sure he was actually following her. A bit of a nervous rush swirled inside her stomach, but thankfully when she turned her head sideways she caught a glimpse of the quiet stallion following her stride. Ok, so she hadn't misunderstood him. It wasn't like her to get so insecure, but she would have hated to watch him dash off or something with a laugh. Half of her expected such a reaction, especially since their communication was somewhat of a challenge at the moment! But Esper wasn't one of those stallion. She was incredibly thankful for that, since it seemed that was all she was running in to these days!
"Thank you for coming along." she finally said, slowly and smoothly. She lowered her eyes somewhat and smiled at the fact that he was still following her, knowing that even in silence any loneliness could creep away. She could quietly hear his tiny steps, and compared to her loud thumps he was as silent as possible. How amazing was that?
"I wish I could learn more about you, Esper. But I'm not sure how."
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Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 1:10 pm
There were times in his life when Esper didn't like company, they vastly outnumbered the times when he sought company. However, there were also occasions when he found himself in a position where he didn't really have a choice. Usagi would probably have been unhappy to know that this was one of those moments but even he understood the concept of tact every now and then. He had been raised with manners and he understood what was involved when it came to social encounters, if he were to run away with a chuckle from the mare he would not only become something he hated himself but he would most likely be burnt alive by certain family members. When it came to physical injuries he was generally unconcerned and thus, to reveal he was rather adverse to being flattened by his own family indicated the extent of their strength.
On the other hand... One might say that he was heading in this direction anyway and to deliberately say no and add even more time to his journey would border on stupidity. Scratch that, it was stupidity. As a result the 'Angeni' found himself in the company of the rather boisterous mare and obediently drifted after her at a reasonable pace. He made no attempts to rush and given his stride, ensured that he wasn't too far away from her just in case she wished to talk to him. He couldn't guarantee what she said would be understood but she would be in earshot at the very least!
Suffice to say he said very little in relation to her gratitude and much to his own surprise, kept his gaze fixed moreso on the ground than ahead. He wasn't the 'traditional' shy type, he didn't blush or become bashful in company. Instead he was decidedly more antisocial, he simply didn't 'exist' thus to be in the company of another who wasn't family for an extended period of time (especially when she'd seen his wings) was awkward. However if anyone asked he was making sure that her tails didn't get stuck in the foliage again.
...Yep, that was it.
As time passed though he did slowly lift his gaze and almost lifted a brow at what she said next. He continued to stare at her for a few moments as if clarifying certain words in his head and then he dropped his gaze once more.
"Ask," he said simply, as though he had understood.
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Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 10:12 am
He made it sound like it was so simple to just ask. Usagi wasn't quite sure if the stallion could tell everything she wanted back, but she supposed that was sort of fun. It was different alright, and Usagi did love different situations. "Well, I suppose I will have to pick somewhere to start." She arched her neck a bit and took a second to think. She figured something too personal would be kind of awkward. So she decided to start with simple conversation.
"So do you enjoy flying a lot?" Ok, maybe that was a weak start to their conversation... But Usagi felt a strange nervousness come about her. She felt compelled to not disappoint this stallion. He carried a different aurora then her own, and although he was somewhat silent he felt much more extraordinary then her. Hm. She had never felt in such a way before??
"I would want to fly at night I think. That way no one could really see me, but I'd be able to view the entire landscape secretly." she chuckled to herself and remembered having dreams of that sort as a child. Perhaps Esper used his wings differently then most? Or he preferred flying in the daytime? It was no matter what his answer would be, though she got herself ready to listen to whatever he could muster. And again, a similar excitement struck her face. She liked guessing in her mind what his answer could be! She was glad her question was over, since the nervousness went away for the moment.
It was much easier to focus on him anyhow!
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Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 10:45 am
Esper had always been one of the infuriating soquili who didn't take pleasure in flying, he saw it as a useful tool but failed to see any additional appeal to it. To him it was a weapon of war, an ideal method of scouting and ensured that he could cover more distance and see further than a traditional soquili. However, he would also be the first to point out that flying at night did not bring about the pleasantries that grounded soquili anticipated - for example, the stars did not light up the night sky and the utter darkness consumed any individual who had no method of lighting their own path. For those reasons alone, there would have to have been extreme circumstances for Esper to fly blind.
Nevertheless, he was unaware of her discomfort for the most part. She hadn't yet begun to show the telltale signs, the tweeks in body language here and there that would give her away. Frankly, if she was beginning to become uncomfortable he would have been unsurprised but his reasoning and logic behind her unrest would have been inaccurate. She didn't regard him as a freak or a monster regardless of his size or the blood on his wings, but given that was normally the case... That probably would have been his reasoning as well.
Eventually he did answer her though, not one hundred percent certain that his response was accurate or as detailed as she would have liked. He had grasped most of what she was talking about, she had been interested in his wings from the start and he knew what 'fly' meant; he also knew what 'night' meant so it was certainly a start!
"Myth," he pointed out flatly and shook his head. Lifting his gaze again, he flicked it towards the mare before unfurling his largest set of wings to cover his eyes. He stumbled slightly to indicate his point and then allowed his eyes to see beyond the feathers once more. "Stars are not light," he corrected her quietly. "Night is blind - fools fly then," he finished with a small sniff. That being said, he was aware that some did fly at night and they were the unsavory types that he was born to hunt - or at least, he considered it his duty to hunt them.
"Mountains good for scenary," he added as an after thought, it wasn't exactly an attempt at conversation but on occasions he was prone to offering up viable alternatives to people. Whether they understood those alternatives was another matter but if she wanted to see the sights, any high vantage point tended to work!
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Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 12:54 pm
She seemed to have gotten lucky since quite a few words were uttered at this point. And this time she was able to actually learn something as well. It was true, she hardly knew the first thing about flying. But since she was limited in what assets she was born with, she tended to make up what she could in her dreams. At least Esper was here to set things straight now. It was nice for a change!
Usagi had never really focused on facts or what other's had discovered. It was something that always worried her parents. They'd ask her to be more mature and realistic without understanding her good humor. Usagi could never understand them either, since she found nothing wrong with following her own beliefs and happiness. But now she felt accomplished enough to adjust a bit in front of this stallion, since she WAS an adult now. Esper wasn't telling her to be anything different anyhow, which made him a good teacher. Even if he didn't even know it!
"I had no idea about the night sky." she then added, with a quieter tone. "But I am glad you are wise, I guess it would be dumb to fly at night. I'd probably run into all sorts of things." a light chuckle left her mouth and she grinned afterwards. "But I agree, mountains are just wonderful. We may even see some if we keep walking like this.."
She was so focused on what to ask next that she wasn't paying attention to where she was walking. Before she could dart away in embarrassment, she nudged into his shoulder lightly. "Oh my gosh, I am so sorry!" She bounced away from him as quickly as she could and was sure he was a creature of his own personal space. Yikes, he probably hated her now! She could only laugh nervously and watch for his reaction. "I won't let it happen again, I promise. It's very out of character for me!"
Goodness Usagi... focus!
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Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 1:08 pm
It was a trip, a stumble and all those who weren't as surefooted as he was were bound to fall on occasions. Such was his thought process as the mare paid little heed to what lay ahead of her and clumsily bumped into his shoulder. He hadn't flinched (surprisingly) and she had moved away from him in record time so he hadn't really had the opportunity to react poorly to the breach of personal space. All in all, he wasn't terribly affected by the occurance but as his mind attempted to catch up with the events that had transgressed he did take note of a few things.
For a start, she spoke at lightning speed when nervous and guilty. Secondly, she would make an absolutely appalling liar because of this very obvious behaviour. Thirdly, she developed a very high pitched laugh when she assumed that the atmosphere would turn hostile. It took all of his self control not to twist his lips into a bitter smile at this - he knew he was antisocial but surely he wasn't so brooding as to seem completely and utterly malicious?
He cared not to admit the loss of temper in his training sessions, nor the injuries he'd caused. It had been a different situation and he had been punished accordingly.
...Hell, it was why he was stuck in this place!
Clearing his throat, he permitted the mare the opportunity to chatter for quite some time. Oblivious to the words escaping from her lips, he could do nothing than zone out until she had lapsed into silence again. Eventually she did silence herself though and after a considerable pause he cleared his throat and shook his head. How best to approach a mare who had just spoke gibberish to him; did he ignore it, or did he try and respond to it?
He opted to ignore it.
"Not wise," he reverted to the previous topic of conversation and shrugged loosely. "Practical," he finished in a rather flat manner. He certainly wasn't enthusiastic about flight, but he definitely didn't respond to compliments well either.
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Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 1:26 pm
.............
So he didn't even mind?! Usagi felt a strange relief come over herself. Maybe she had worried too much? Did that mean that Esper felt sort of comfortable around her? Was she more of an ally now then an enemy? Wow! Now that was a good step ahead. She could only puff her shoulders out and gleam at the thought of it all. Even if it wasn't one hundred percent true, it kept her happy enough to move forward and not be so intimidated. She could finally try and make it more fun for the stallion. Even if he didn't want that particularly!
There was another aspect that she wished she could give the stallion credit for. He was very patient with her. He could have shrugged and walked away at any moment, but instead he was always careful to listen and try to understand what it was she wanted to say or ask. Usagi wasn't used to such an attribute, and already she felt herself warming up to the idea of her being more patient to others as well. It would take a bit more effort but she liked the thought of helping others in that way.
"You are very kind, Esper." she finally admitted in a usual and slower tone. "I am sorry if I seemed caught off guard at first. But thank you again for just being you." she grinned to herself while dashing a few paces in front of the stallion and stopping playfully. Hmm, she wondered. "Have you ever played a game before? Or done anything fun or crazy?" she turned to look at him and watched him carefully per usual. "Or done anything to make you very happy? I think you deserve it."
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Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 1:35 pm
Say what?!
Esper positively balked at the mareas the words escaped her lips and he was nearly positive he'd misheard. His brow furrowed and he drew to a halt, his facial features seeming to draw into a frown, clearly there was something he didn't agree with. In all his years he had never been associated with the word 'kind' and it definitely wasn't one he would use to describe himself. Disciplined, efficient, decisive... All these were much more accurate but 'kind' was most definitely not. It seemed that at some point his tolerance had been misinterpreted into something it wasn't and she gave him much more credit than he was due.
He wasn't here because he enjoyed her company, he was here because he had to be, manners stated as such. If he had opted to disregard her completely he would never have been capable of returning home to face his sensei. No, his failure to tolerate the mare regardless of her faults would have been regarded as rude and cowardly. Unsurprisingly, his lips twisted into a grimace and for a brief moment he shifted his bloodied orbs to the side.
...There was no point recovering his composure in this instance.
"I am not kind," he murmured darkly and ruffled his wings. With an abrupt shake of his head he dismissed the rather obvious expression, obediently his features morphed into their usual stoicism. "And I do not play," he added simply. Permitting a deep sigh to escape from his nostrils, he slowly began to recover his composure and forced his legs to move once more so that he could trail after the mare at the previously selected pace.
"You need to be more guarded," he pushed on, refusing her invitation of any form of play. "You give others too much credit."
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Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 5:16 pm
Usagi wasn't exactly prepared for the stallion's reaction so she only widened her eyes and blinked numerous times in response. Well, it was safe to say she had finally struck a nerve into the situation. She had been so inaccurate with his emotions that she finally was able to see something come out. Unfortunately it wasn't a positive reaction but hey, at least it was something.
But still, he had said something that made her shift a bit in her hooves. She gave too much credit? What was wrong with that? It was her opinion, and she always justified what she thought in her mind. Hm. She didn't particularly like the comment but she could see where the stallion was coming from. She might have seemed fake by saying that he was kind, but she truly meant it. Even if he didn't want to hear it himself.
"I give other's credit when I find it the truth." she finally added, with a much firmer tone. Even if he didn't want to accept it, she would keep that in her mind. It's not like he would know what she was thinking anyhow! "But ok fine, I won't call you kind if you don't like it." She smiled at him and hoped she didn't offend him too badly. "I didn't mean to upset you. So, I will just call you interesting, then?"
If anything now she felt like the stallion was even more mysterious then before. "Even if I ask you these questions, I feel like I know nothing about you, Esper." Sigh. That was kinda sad too!
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Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 12:30 am
There were few in the world brave enough to dispute the remarks made by a stallion of Esper's size. There were fewer still, who walked away from it unharmed. Fortunately for Usagi she had the luck of the spirits on her side. Esper had been forced into the Kawani regions because of his temper, well aware of this, he sought to control it. His sensei had at first been patient with him, had attempted to use other methods of reining in the stallion's temper but they;d never worked. As a final resort he'd been given an ultimatum - figure out your temper, or don't come back. In the words of his mentor he had to figure out if he genuinely wanted to be part of such an order.
In the months he had been subjected to an array of cultures and personalities (neither he had been interested in), his temper had been tried and tested. He would admit begrudingly that there had been slip ups, but in recent weeks they had been less so. He had come to the conclusion that he did want to go home and his loss of temper was unnecessary. His inability to control himself was a crutch and with that in mind, he had something to work for... a specific goal. He wouldn't call it a 'dream', he wasn't so fanciful as that but it was a purpose.
...Esper thrived on having a purpose.
Consequently, he merely shot a rather disapproving glance towards the stubborn mare and refrained from commenting. He couldn't ignore her remarks but he wasn't going to argue either. It would've been a moot point anyway, she wouldn't have understood him and they both would have been utterly clueless. He would have gotten frustrated, then angry... It didn't take a genius to figure out what came next! In the words of his great-uncle he uttered a soft, "Meh" as his only response.
Nevertheless as she heaved a sigh he raised his eyes heavenwards and begged to be put out of his misery. Stubborn and very persistent, she seemed intent on figuring out exactly who he was. Given that he had no intention of providing that information he was between a rock and a hard place - manners did state he couldn't stalk off after all.
"Then you do not ask the right ones," he pointed out flatly and returned his gaze to the pathway ahead; unlike her, he had no interest in stumbling. "Why is it so important, mm?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 3:45 pm
Just when she thought she had the stallion all figured out, Usagi realized she was even farther from understanding him then before! She felt her ears start to droop naturally and her face lose it's glow. Hm. It was safe to say for the first time in her life she was starting to feel a bit of... disappointment? Is this what it felt like? When she thought back to how her brother felt most of the time, he always seemed to always be feeling such an emotion. He tried to explain once but Usagi just couldn't understand. Well it took her long enough!
When the stallion spoke up again, she only stared at him rather blankly and wondered what else she could discover in this meeting. Maybe more emotions for herself? No no... she couldn't give up on him yet. That wasn't the way she was. She could handle this emotion for a while longer, since it was good for her to learn something out of this all too!
"It's important because I was enjoying your company." she finally added, while shuffling her front hoof against the ground. "I was excited because I thought I could finally make a friend. But it sounds like that's not what you wanted." Well, at least she tried though, right? She would totally conquer this 'disappointment'. Other's had gotten over it before, right?! When she thought of it that way, a smile returned to her face and she chuckled at her obvious mental dilemmas. Ah well, everyone grew up in different ways. And she was a bit slower then everyone else. Nothing to be ashamed of!
"Is there anything you wish to know about me?" she finally added with a head tilt and sigh. "I figured no.. but maybe that was the right question?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 4:23 pm
"You would be correct," he replied without a moment to consider the detrimental affect his words might have on the young mare. He was still in adolescence technically. Just on the brink of adulthood and with very little social interaction with females, he was still naive about certain things, especially tact. If he had been human he would have been approximately nineteen - not quite a man but most certainly not a boy either. He would be the first to admit he was still in the process of finding himself but social interaction and courting were not generally where he saw himself going. Frankly, such things hadn't crossed his mind and the consequences were inevitable.
"I need no friends," he pointed out coolly, firmly placing the mare where she needed to be. There were no fancy words and he had to be given credit for telling the truth, even if it was a little harsh. He'd never been good with mares and given the nature of Kawani mares, he was even less inclined to consort with them (no offence towards Usagi intended of course)! He even struggled with the males of this region, culture clashes certainly played a major role in this - they came from very different worlds and he was not prepared to compromise his morals for the sake of their questionnable pleasures and games.
"As for the other query," he shook his head slowly, resisting the urge to sigh at the mare's persistance. Perhaps he shouldn't have opened himself up to questionning, he had rather hoped the mare would chatter continuously and he could zone out. The tour guide idea hadn't been wholey accurate and if he had had any sense, he would have had the decency to find out why he was so inaccurate in his judgement.
Alas, when it came to mares he had no sense - his senses were reserved entirely for his studies.
"I need no information, it has no use to me," he finished. Somewhere in the world there was bound to be a male gawking at his cluelessness, his pitiful behaviour towards the mare. However, Esper would have calmly pointed out that he saw mares in a very different light and they weren't purely for sport. While one male opted to seduce, Esper preferred to pretend they weren't there. It was less of a distraction that way, he could keep his sparring partners attention when there were no coos or giggles to disrupt the proceedings.
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Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 4:52 pm
Well dang.
What needed to be said was definitely said at this point. Usagi had pretty much stopped breathing throughout all of Esper's words, which was painful enough. When the silence had resumed between them, she could only exhale rather loudly and cough at the sheer realization of it all. Oh MY. She didn't even care at this point if she looked stupid while she stood there and choked. Esper had absolutely no care at all when it came to anything about her, so she merely slumped downward and landed with her legs bent over and her face staring at the dirt. Pride indeed.
"Well you've made yourself very clear." she finally managed to say, while refusing to make eye contact. Yeah. Why was the stallion even THERE, anyhow? If anything he was messing with her emotions too much, bringing about insecurities Usagi had never even felt before. And now? She couldn't even face him. Nor did she even want to face him. This was seriously too complicated! Why did she even care? She was an idiot.
"You can go." she finally added, while adding a few more coughs in. "Just leave me here, go on in your life, and forget this ever happened. That's what you wanted, right?" The mare finally brought her eyes to him, and only a glimmer of tears were to be seen if one looked close enough. Usagi refused to actually cry, so she held everything in and pretended she was 'strong'. "Good luck."
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