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 Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2014 11:59 am
“Yeah,” Shiloh said, considering it solemnly. He had always liked the zoo but felt like Arorangi had a point. “They are probably happier there too, huh? Having the whole ocean to swim in and all the fish they could ever want.” He contemplated it a bit more while Arorangi continued answering his questions, until his eyes lit up, having come with yet another question and he couldn’t help but interrupt. “Are you named after them, really? Is that how it came about? Aren’t there lots of sheep in New Zealand too?” Shiloh wasn’t sure how helpful he was being, but to Arorangi was like a wealth of information and Shiloh was especially enamored by the fact that he wanted to share it, rather than behead him.
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Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2014 9:47 pm
"The ocean is a wonderful place," said Arorangi in solemn agreement, nodding his dreadlocked head emphatically. "It is so powerful and yet so gentle to those that live within it. I have always loved what a contradiction in terms it is, and I am proud to have grown up next to it."
He smiled widely, and laughed. "We are named after the kiwi bird, yes! They are native to New Zealand, and it became a nickname. But yes, there are many, many sheep, too many, in fact. There are sheep all over the fields and all over the grass and all across both the Northern and the Southern island, and everywhere you look there are sheep!"
Arorangi shook his head in amusement, giving a little sigh. "I am always saying that they should do something about the sheep because there are sometimes too many, but they are good animals, at least. We are not infested with anything too dangerous, like the cockroaches or spiders in Australia," he added with a laugh.
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Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2014 3:09 pm
Shiloh looked out to the ocean as Arorangi spoke about his at home, and he wondered what it would be like to have an ocean like that. He’d been to the ocean before, on family vacations or visiting relatives but they lived by primarily fresh water. The rivers and lakes he’d grown up with were nothing in comparison to the vastness of the ocean, and the only worry he’d had swimming in them was whether or not a leech might find his foot, or some fish looking for a nibble. Here he never even considered swimming in the ocean, even though it was all around them and the temperature often made the water look tantalizing, cool refreshment just out of reach. There was the pool of course, but it wasn’t the same thing. “Powerful, that’s for sure,” he said, turning back to Arorangi. “That’s one thing you could definitely say about this ocean.” He was glad when his new friend continued, happily talking about home and kiwis and sheep with a smile that was catching. Shiloh couldn’t help but smile too, he liked to after all and it was nice to talk with someone not downtrodden, someone with a fresh view on things. It helped him remember a little part of himself that he’d slowly been forgetting. “Oh yeah, Australia has something like… All of the most dangerous animals, right?” Shiloh asked, perking up. “Sharks, spiders, snakes… Almost as dangerous as here!”
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Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2014 12:46 pm
If Arorangi said he wasn't a little disappointed that the ocean here at Deus was apparently filled with all manner of crazy and dangerous creatures, he would have been lying; though thinking about it, he was still determined to see if it was possible to take a swim without fear of dying, because the ocean was right there and he desperately wanted to sink into and let the water surround him.
He reached around fiddled with his hair, debating whether to keep it up or just let it all down. "Australia is all sorts of intense when it comes to creatures!" said Arorangi with a laugh. "It is filled with everything under the sun that could bite, snap, or crush you, I suppose, but it is still a very interesting place. I do prefer New Zealand, however," he added, grinning broadly, "Though I suppose I am a little biased."
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2014 6:11 pm
Shiloh had learned his lesson with swimming, now even when it was sweltering outside, swimming was limited to missions only and even then he wasn’t particularly fond, always checking over his shoulder for a hulking shadow or gnashing teeth. It was a far cry from how he’d grown up, a kid who spend most of his summers in the lake, swimming or sunbathing or any other multitude of things. But the ocean here was different. Everything was different. But he didn’t want to dampen things too much for the new hunter, he had a strong spirit and Shiloh admired that. Besides, he didn’t like being negative anyway. He’d said his warning and that was enough, now it was onto better and brighter things, like their discussion of Australia, which had Shiloh listening intently, his eyes slightly wide with awe. “Is New Zealand really that different? I never knew.”
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2014 2:09 pm
Arorangi was Maori, and this meant that swimming was totally in his blood, even though he hadn't even learned to swim until he was almost ten because his father hadn't really been the most proficient at teaching his son. Still, he didn't regret this, since it had meant that he had spent a great deal of time just with his father at that age, and that had been very nice.
Even with this new strange, unfamiliar ocean and its apparent dangerous inhabitants, Arorangi wasn't afraid of it, because that was the one thing that had stuck with him during all of his time learning how to swim - "Never fear the ocean, because it can tell when you're afraid." Sort of like horses sensing fear, Arorangi had thought, but either way he believed it.
"New Zealand is very culturally diverse!" he said brightly. "Everyone there is very nice and very welcoming to everyone else, it is what we are known best for. That, and sheep, and Lord of the Rings, he added with a laugh. "But it is also very calm there. There are many big cities, but New Zealand is a place people come when they want to retire or when they want to live a quiet life away from everyone else. It is both beautiful and relaxing."
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Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 11:53 am
“Ah, yes, I remember the sheep! My grandparents used to take trips there, when they got older, and they’d always come back with a bit of sheepskin for us.” He hadn’t really understood it at the time, and as a child had thought that sheepskin was an odd sort of souvenir to bring back but given the turn his life had taken, now he sort of missed those simple things that he’d taken for granted. “Which makes sense, if it’s where people retire, then, that they went there a lot,” he laughed. “They always came back though. I can’t say I ever remember learning more than about sheep or kiwis though, so thank you for filling me in. It does sound like a beautiful place and hmm, quiet, that would be nice.” Smiling widely, he wiggled his boots in the sand. “Maybe I’ll take a trip there, take some leave days. Are the big cities the same as in the States?” Big cities were still a thing that Shiloh marvelled at, even when they were local. He’d grown up in a place where the city meant the town that had two grocery stores in it. Ian had shown him New York, and he’d been to others during missions, but when it came down to it, he was still just a small town kid when it came to places like that.
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