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 Posted: Fri May 31, 2013 9:13 am
"The....plains?" She cocked her head the opposite way in confusion, truly clueless. "I don't really blend into the forest either." she responded with a self conscious laugh, "But I see your point. Perhaps that would be for the best though, I would be able to see farther at least. I love trees, but they do tend to limit vision for both good and ill."
Her smile lit up her face, he was so kind. It was so strange to talk to someone for the sake of conversation. She had grown up alone, it was what she was used to. The few times that she had contact with the outside world had been all business. "Thank you, I'm not sure I would say strong... Its easy to not miss something that as far as you know was never there and... The mind fills in the blanks you know, I mostly try to not dwell on it."
Ceres observed his reaction with amusement, she wasn't sure what questions were appropriate to ask but it seemed she had touched on a sensitive subject. "I certainly don't think there's anything wrong with that. I apologize, Galious, sometimes I speak without thinking. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
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Posted: Sat Jun 01, 2013 12:37 pm
He nodded. "The most dangerous thing about out there though is that you have to look out for things on the ground and the air. Least in the forest things tend to only be on the ground." he said. He wasn't intentionally trying to scare her, just giving her vital information that would help her survive. Deep down though he hoped a small slightly wicked hope that she would stay here and be safe. He squelched it though, he had no right to ask her to stay, he barely knew her after all.
"I understand." he said understanding the situation about her past. There really was nothing to be done about it at this point so better to deal with it and move on. Even if in his opinion it really did elevate his respect for her. She was such a mare!
He laughed. "It's fine. I was just a little embarrassed about how I gushed on. No one had ever asked me about my own personal desires for little foals, so I got a little caught up in the moment." he shuffled looking a little pink and then coughed. "I assure you I wasn't that uncomfortable." he looked around the flowers in the clearing and decided on his next question for her. "My turn to ask you a question I think. A little off topic, but what is your favorite flower?"
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Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2013 5:01 pm
Ceres gazed up at the sky with eyes as wide as dinner plates. "What sorts of things in the air?" She asked in a hushed voice, as though such things could sense their conversation and attack at any moment. A shiver ran through her body, but it was an agreeable one, here with Galious, she felt safe. It seemed impossible that anything bad could happen to her with him at her side.
"Don't be embarrassed!" She chided gently, lightly butting him with her head, but she understood how intimidating it could be to share something so personal with someone new. She followed his gaze to the flowers, a little cascade of laughter tumbling from her lips. "How to decide? I spend so much time with plants, there are special things about each one that call to me... Still, if I had to pick one... I would say a tiger lily. They seem so wild... free. I'm not sure if that makes any sense..." She shook her head with a befuddled expression, "Do you have a favorite?"
She glanced around again, enjoying the conversation but feeling a creeping sense of urgency to continue her search for aid. Still, the thought of leaving Galious so soon after they had become acquainted left her feeling strangely somber. She wondered if he would be willing to show her how to find these 'plains' he spoke of. Ceres was likely to get turned around again once she was alone in the forest. She had never had a friend before, but it felt like that was what she had found in the handsome stallion. If she left, could she ever find this place again, find him? She was to proud to outright ask him, but perhaps she could hint at the topic, see if he would be interested in accompanying her... "So, Galious..." Ceres began tentatively, "have you ever been to the plains before? Is it easy to find from here?"
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Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 9:39 pm
"Kalona for one." he said. "And I've heard rumor of skinwalkers that fly." he shivered as if cold even though the day was warm. "As if the ones on the ground weren't bad enough." He had been lucky thus far that such creatures had ignored his home.
He blushed as she made contact with him. He watched her gaze out over the field and then laughed as she made her selection. "It makes perfect sense to me." he said with a smile. "They have strong bold colors and stand out in a crowd. They also represent the strong side of being a female. I find it to be a fitting choice if I may be so bold to say so." he said teasingly. "My favorite though?" he shuffled. "I have to admit I don't know what they're called." he said motioning to the flowers behind his ear and at the end of his braid. "I just happen to like the color." he said with a chuckle.
Galious blinked at the subject change and sighed inwardly. He knew this had to come, but so soon? "I have." he said with a touch of regret. "And not far at all. Just a half a day's walk from here." he paused before starting again. "I could take you there." he said. "And I have a small nest near the edge that you could use for the evening before starting out in the morning. It would be safe and dry." he said wishing there was something he could do to keep her with him longer.
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Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 4:18 pm
"A skinwalker? That sounds awful, and they fly?" Kalonas were bad enough, "I never thought they were real." She admitted, feeling clueless and embarrassed by her lack of knowledge. She knew next to nothing about skinwalkers, just bits and pieces accumulated from her wards.
"They're lovely" she responded in a voice filled with admiration, she leaned in and sniffed their delicate fragrance, "I've never seen these before either, but perhaps their not a mountain flower. I've seen lots of species that are new to me in the last few days of travel alone."
Only half a day! That was much closer than she would have thought, it seemed the towering trees stretch on forever in either direction, that she was so close to the edge without being aware was a sobering thought. She was lucky she had picked the right direction to walk in. "I'd like that, it would be nice to travel with someone who knows what their doing." She didn't want to leave him, she admitted to herself, she wasn't entirely sure why but there were strange emotions stirring inside her. Traveling would give her more time to consider them. "Which way shall we go?" She scanned the tree line curiously, her wings idly fluttering in time to her breathing, the light breeze cooling her skin.
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Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 8:36 pm
Galious nodded. "Not all of them though, just a few. They seem to be a new breed of sorts...hawks and bats." he shuddered. "Better if they all just went back to where they came from and leave good folk alone." he said stamping a hoof.
Galious smiled and looked down at the flowers. "Whatever they are they do seem to grow plentifully around here."
He went quiet and then smiled. "I think you give me too much credit. I can't claim to know what I'm doing all the time. Just good at making correct guesses." he said teasingly. He wished there was something he could say that would change her mind, but everything seemed too premature. How could he get in her way like that? The answer was he couldn't. He had no right. Perhaps if he'd known her longer, then he could step in, beg her not to leave. Instead it would seem they would be like two ships in the night, as he'd heard the expression go. He only hoped he wasn't about to lose her forever. "This way." he said gently bumping into her and going back down the little path they'd followed to the water meadow. "We'll follow this path a little ways and then cut onto another." he said with a nod.
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Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 2:28 pm
Ceres nodded thoughtfully as she pondered this new information. The knowledge that only a few of them could fly was not very reassuring, she was sure encountering one on the ground would prove just as deadly. Especially with the size difference, she would just have to hope that they weren't unlucky. "Have you ever seen one, Galious?" Skinwalkers were supposed to be very rare, but the knowledge that they truly did exist and were wandering around out here made Ceres want her sanctuary back even more, to retreat into its safety with Galious and to shut out all the terrors.... But even when she got the Goddess pond back, it would never be the carefree refuge it had once been, she now knew she couldn't defend it on her own, certainly not from things like skinwalkers or Kalonas, even if she knew how to fight it was too big a job for her alone... She had enjoyed her life of peaceful solitude, with only the occasional visitor to break the long days, but Ceres was beginning to think that time in her life was over. There was safety in numbers, perhaps it was time to open her home up to new inhabitants. Something that had been forbidden for as long as she could remember.... But she was the goddess of the valley now, if anybody had the authority to change the rules, it was her.
Pulling from her musings, she let her eyes drift around the meadow. Now that she knew what to look for she could see the scattered blossoms Galious was talking about, they truly were beautiful. If they could grow in the valley, she would love to bring some home with her. "Perhaps I could take a blossom when I go?" she inquired shyly, not sure if she was overstepping any boundaries with her request. "I'd like to bring some of my journey home with me when I finally return, perhaps planting a new garden with all the new flowers I find would be a good way to commemorate it." She smiled at him warmly, "that way, even when we part, I will have something to remember you by, until we meet again." Ceres knew she could help the full plant to grow from the blossom once she had it in the soil again.
She felt a rush of butterflies when she felt him brush against her, even for a moment and then hurried to catch up with him, her curls springing with each buoyant step.
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Posted: Sat Jun 15, 2013 12:47 pm
"Thankfully I have not." he said. "Just rumors. I'm not sure even my skills at mimicry would save me if one decided to take up residence. There aren't very many things they are afraid of, if anything at all." he said with a shudder.
Galious paused and thought over her request. No one had ever asked to take anything from his water meadow, then again he'd never shown it to anyone before either. Perhaps he and Ceres were more alike than he'd realized. They both lived lives of relative solitude and took special care of their respectiive homes. He'd never thought of his life as lonely before, but he was now faced wiith that realizatiion. Once she was gone he'd be very much alone.
"Of course you can." he said with a smile. "I don't see why not." he stopped by a stray set off the blooms that grew by the side of the path. "These are the same flower, but if they don't suit you we can go back to the meadow." he said almost hoping she'd want to go back. Anything to spend more time with her.
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Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 9:50 am
"Oh? Skills at mimicry?" she latched on to this tidbit with interest, "Would you show me?" Ceres simply shook her head at the thought of skinwalkers, she never thought she would be thankful that it was a Kalona that had ended up hijacking her valley, clearly it could have been much worse. At least this way there was hope to reclaim it."
Ceres smiled her thanks and followed him over to the delicate blossom. She leaned down and nosed the closest one gently before glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. "These are perfect, Galious." She reassured him, very carefully she pulled the plant from the ground and tucked it into the wispy scarf draped around her body.
She felt much more rested after their time in the meadow and Ceres found herself enjoying the light exertion of their walk together. She was not looking foreword to venturing out alone into the unknown in search of a champion. She would much rather stay with Galious, but she needed to return to the valley. It was all so confusing. "Do you get many visitors?" She asked the stallion, perhaps if the area was well traveled she didn't need to venture so far to find help.
If she must leave she hoped she could find someone quickly, before the knowledge of how to find this place, to find Galious again, was lost to her.
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Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2013 9:00 am
Galious colored slightly. "It's just a simple trick but I can show you if you wish." he said. He cleared his throat and then from his mouth came a warble that was nearly identical to the song of the birds that flitted above them in the trees.
He continued to trill in this manner when one flitted down and landed on his horns letting out a song of it's own. It then flitted over to Ceres landing between her ears. Galious chuckled and trilled slightly to the little bird, who warbled in return before returning to it's home in the branches.
"Just a trick." he said modestly. "I do like doing songbirds more than anything else though. They have more personality than a lot of other things I can copy."
He nodded when she said the plant was acceptable and watched her tuck it away. "How handy, to have something to carry such things in." he said.
He paused when she asked about visitors. He wasn't exactly sure that his home was a high traffic area, but definitely not exactly isolated either. "Often enough." he said. "At least 10 to 15 individuals a month. Mostly cerynie, unicorns, and kirins." he knew that wouldn't be an ideal answer for the mare though. It was very unlikely that a unicorn or a kirin would go to battle for her. Maybe a surly enough cerynie stallion, but again that was a maybe. "I'm sure you'll find someone out of the plains though." he said reassuringly. "I believe there are one or two herds that are only a few days away from the edge out there. They'll have protectors that may be willing to return to your valley with you." he sighed silently to himself though. So many "if's." He wished he could give her more definite answers, or that he could be the one to drive off the kalona. He went quiet as they walked. He had a thing or two he wanted to consider before they reached the edge of the forest.
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Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 1:55 pm
Ceres threw her head back and laughed, thrilled by Galious' display. "That's absolutely marvelous!" she beamed, watching as the tiny jewel like bird flitted between them. A small "Oh!" as the breath left her lungs escaped her lips when the little creature perched in her violet curls, she stood absolutely still so as not to frighten it before it returned to the treetops. "How did you learn to do such a thing?" she wondered, her eyes shining with admiration.
She shook her head, her circlet flashing in the sunlight, "I just improvised" she admitted with a shy smile, "but thank you." Her large eyes darted around as they passed through the trees, trotting a little to keep up with her companion.
"I hope so as well, although, I've been thinking... The world outside my valley holds so much beauty, perhaps I will take this opportunity to explore it. I'm not sure I could go back to spending long days and nights alone after all I have seen, It wouldn't be as satisfying an existence as it once was. I know I shall have to return someday... But I think I should like to see what else the world has to offer first..."
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Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 3:21 pm
"It's a skill all my kind possesses. My mother helped refine my skills though. Like all things the more you practice the better you become. Her favorites were noisy insects, frogs and toads." he added. He smiled to himself at the memory of playing hide and seek with his mother using only sounds to locate each other. He'd learned early on though not to play around bodies of water with her. He'd never really been able to tell the difference between her and a real frog.
Galious chuckled. "Improvised or not, still clever."
Galious stumbled for a moment and then looked over at her. "Truly?" he paused for a moment and then began again. "Because...I was thinking...that maybe perhaps, I would accompany you. If you wanted that is. I just worry for your safety." he said, blushing just a touch.
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Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 3:33 pm
"Your kind?" She asked with polite interest, her eyes traced his antlers shyly. She had seen many of the various regular sized breeds when they came to her with offerings, mostly regulars with a sprinkling of unicorns, cerenei, and winds but she knew from her conversations with them that there were others. None had ever mentioned different smaller sized breeds, most had been so in awe of her unorthodox wings and appearance that she had assumed she must be the only one of her kind. "Are there others like you?.... Like me?" Ceres was intrigued, perhaps if she could find others like her. If they could heal the land, she wouldn't need to expend so much of her energy and power to maintain her realm all on her own. "Have you heard of anyone who can do this?" Calling on her innate abilities, she reached into the rich soil with her power and called a few scattered seeds to her, feeding them energy to spur their growth. Green shoots wriggled up from the ground, their curled ends unfurling and sprouting first leaves, then buds, and finally opening to reveal their colorful blooms.
She had never deliberately shown anyone her skill before but it felt refreshing. Ever since she could remember, new flowers had flourished under her care and every morning she awoke to find new blossoms caressing her slumbering body. Perhaps there were others like her.
She drew closer to him, nuzzling his cheek affectionately, "I would love that, truly. What better way to explore the world than in the company of a dear friend. I will readily admit that I am about as battle hardened as a rabbit, I would welcome any protection, and they say there is strength in numbers."
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Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 1:13 pm
Galious nodded. "Quite a few." he said. "According to my mother we used to all belong to one big herd but decided to split up upon reaching these lands. I'm not exactly sure the reasons why, but I suppose it was for the best." he said with a shrug. As for others like her..."I have seen others like you before. In fact I've met one other mare, a while ago. She was into racing and quite fast."
He stopped as she demonstrated her powers, and gasped. So it had been her reviving the flowers around the water marsh and just making them more beautiful in general. "I don't know if she could do that...but that is the most remarkable thing I've ever seen in my entire life." he knelt down and breathed in the fragrance of the blooms. They even smelled better than normal. "That is...amazing." he said looking up at her.
He straightened and then blushed as she nuzzled him. The contact sent little fish up and down his back and he was slightly disappointed when she moved away. "I will do the best I can." he said. "I promise." Faithofthefallen Sorry took so long. Went on vacation and had lousy internet the entire time.
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Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2013 1:38 pm
She pondered this revelation, feeling her eyes burning with unshed tears. There were others like her, she wasn't as alone in the world as she had once thought. Perhaps if she could learn more about the land where their ancestors had come from, she could learn more about her own past and why she had been left alone in the goddess valley so long ago.
His reaction to her power stunned her, a slow blush rose to her cheeks. "Thank you." She replied simply, "I would like to meet others of my kind, perhaps, perhaps if they don't know how to do this, I could teach them..." Racing... She had never heard of running for fun but it certainly sounded interesting.
Ceres' eyes sparkled as she thought of the fun they would have, a simple meeting had led to a new friend and changed her entire outlook. She was still unsure about what to do about the invader in her home but she felt much more hopeful about finding a solution. "So, whats the next step?" She wondered aloud, "Where do we go from here?" Oblivious to the dual meaning her words imparted
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