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 Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 12:33 pm
She listened to him intently, ears perked forward, more curious than a young foal. "Ooh, it sounds so pretty.. I wish I could see it," she decided, ears twitching as she came out of her curious trance. She nodded to his comment, a happy smile on her lips. "Oh, I think she'd really like it if you were to stay with us, she's really nice."
She looked around them at the snowy landscape, the light fluffy crystals gently floating down to the ground beneath them, then returned her gaze to the other ichsa. "I can show you where it is! It's really nice there, it's always nice and warm and sunny, and the grass is really good, but you can't eat too much of it otherwise you'll get sick," she informed him, nodding her head quickly. "Follow me, I'll show you where it is!" She quickly whipped her head around, trying to get her bearings, then bucked out her back legs a bit once she figured out where to go.
"This way!" She said, pointing with her muzzle, then looked back at him. "D'you want to go on hoof, or would you rather fly there?" She prefered running, especially when it was cold, but she didn't want to cause his leg to become injured further.
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Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 12:50 pm
"Flyin' would be better f' me," Maurice said, quirking a half smile; he still wasn’t putting any weight on his damaged leg. "Y' can do whichever; I can fly beside you if you prefer t' fly or over y' if y' prefer t' run."
It was... strange that this other Ichsa, the breed he usually tried his best to avoid, was being nicer to him than anyone else had been in a good while. Even the fertile plains of D'ob couldn't be too abundant in grass at this time of year, could they? Offering shelter and friendship to a stranger in such a harsh seasons was unexpected indeed. Even if D'ob was still full of good grass to eat it was an extremely kind gesture.
Humm, per'aps this'll go some way t' restorin' my faith in Nequus as a species.
"So," the blue-coated stallion said with a slight smile, shaking away the snow that had settled on his back. "Which'll it be, Niz? I can fly quite low so's we can talk a bit on the way if y' feel like runnin'."
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Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 1:35 pm
"That's what I figured, and that's why I asked which you prefered," she said with a giggle, then spun around in a circle, tired of standing still. "I think I'll run. I don't know why, but I prefer running over flying," she said with a nod, and began to paw the soft snow with her hoof; the cold was beginning to get a little bit too cold for her liking. She shook out her mane, flicked her tail, adjusted her wings, then grinned at him. "C'mon, let's go!" She said, before taking off at a slow canter down the snowy hill towards the valley she called home, even if it had only been so for a short time.
She cantered slow at first, making sure Maurice would easily be able to catch up to her since she gotten a slight head start. Whether or not Maurice needed her to go slow so he could catch up, she didn't know, but she figured it was better to be safe than sorry. She turned her head slightly so she could see where Maurice was, she certainly didn't want to leave him out here all alone, especially because it was so cold.
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Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 1:59 pm
The blue Nequus eased himself into a canter, a frown on his face as the dull ache in his leg foreleg flared up a little. He was in the air soon enough however, his slender wings picking up the air currents and taking full advantage of them. There was Nizhoni, not far ahead and running slow. He swooped down beside her, his hooves a foot or so from the ground.
"A'right there?" he called to her over the rushing wind, eyes squinted against the rush of white flakes that sought to strike them. "Is it far?Don' matter if it is or anythin', jus' wondered if y' 'ad an approximation for me."
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Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 3:51 pm
She dipped her head, her horn pointed straight ahead of her, and her ears flicked back continuously. Snow was pretty when one was standing still, but not while running. She didn't like how the crystals stung her eyes as she cantered, but nevertheless she increased her speed. "I'm good," she said, assuming he was asking how she was doing so far. If not, then oh well. She shook her head, the snow irritating her still, and she managed to see Maurice out of the corner of her eye. "I don't think it's too far, but then again I'm not too good at measuring distances. We should be out of the snow within a few minutes, maybe fifteen, give or take a few. After that, the valley is just a few minutes away. I don't think it will take too long," she said truthfully. She hadn't paid attention to how long it took her to get there, and now she wished she had. Oh well, no use crying over spilt milk, she figured. Where had she heard that saying before...?
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Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 4:21 pm
Maurice nodded to the other Ichsa and tilted his wings so that he shot upwards. The wind seemed faster further from the ground, thought it could just be his increased speed. Whatever the reason, it was somewhat unpleasant but, after a moment or two of squinting, the stallion spotted what he was looking for and swooped downwards again.
"Yea, s'not very far," he called as he came within hearing range of Nizhoni once more. "I see an' end t' the snow not far off, looked like frost from there an I thought I could make out a dip in the land after tha' but visibility was kinda poor so I could be wrong."
A gust of wind tugged at the soaring Nequus and blue-white tendrils were forced to flap rapidly, awkwardly, to prevent their owner from being swept off course. "Phew," Maurice sighed, righting himself and settling back into a rhythm, more alert for changes in the wind this time.
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Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 4:45 pm
She craned her neck, wondering where Maurice had gone once he suddenly disappeared from her line of vision. She caught a glimpse of a blue-colored blob through the snow up in the sky, so she turned her attention back to just getting through the snow. Her canter turned into a gallop, although she wasn't sure if she was gaining speed or if the wind was. She saw him descend to just above her level again, but barely heard his wings over the rushing wind. Because of the wind, she could barely hear what he was saying, but managed to decipher it. "Okay," she called, hoping it really wouldn't be too long until it stopped snowing so hard.
"Are you okay?" She asked, craning her neck to the side so she could see him; what happened? He seemed to have lost his balance or something for a short time there, but she blamed it on the random gusts of wind. She only held her head at that angle for a few moments, just to make sure he was all right, then she righted it and dipped her muzzle again. Snow was pretty, but only good when standing or walking.
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 8:08 am
The blue stallion nodded to Nizhoni’s concerned question with a bob of his head and a slight smile. What a sweet little mare she was, worried because of a slight deviation from the norm in a stranger's flight. Perhaps she had been raised to care equally about all living things, rather than to care first for themselves and their own as most Nequus were.
Perhaps all of this herd he was heading towards were like her. Perhaps Nequus were very different in the lands of D'ob than in the more northern lands. Well. Whatever the case he would find out soon; the snow rushed at his face less violently already, though the whistle of the wind in his ears remained constant indicating that the lessening snow was not due to a slowing of his own speed or that of the wind.
"Snow's gettin' thinner already!" he called to the creamy Ichsa below him. "I think we'll get past where it's fallin' quite soon and out of the settled stuff soon after that, though I could be way off; I don' know if the weather's the same 'ere as 'tis further north." He hadn't come that far though. A change in the weather itself he could understand but the stallion couldn't think of any reason for snow to behave differently under the same conditions here as opposed to lands that he knew better.
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 9:22 am
Once reassured, Niz focused back on getting through the snow as fast as possible. She could already feel the airborn snow lessening, which was very good.
It would seem Niz was raised well, and she was, as far as she was concerned; she had raised herself, having no elders to guide her while growing up. She had gone through life so far doing what she assumed was best, and didn't know how she'd made it this far all by herself. She hadn't been around many other nequus for very long, so she hadn't acquired the self-centered attitude that some seemed to have.
She bobbed her head when Maurice noted the thinning snow; already the green of trees was visible through the flying snow. At least, she thought so. "I think I can see it from here," she commented, wondering if it was really visible or if the snow was playing tricks on her.
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 10:03 am
Pupiless blue eyes squinted against the rushing wind for whatever it was that the other Ichsa had seen. "Umm... that bit of green up ahead y' mean?" Maurice asked, blinking a few times rapidly to clear away the dry feeling that staring into the wind was causing. "Certainly looks a bit less... wintry," he called with a slight smile.
"Y' lived about here f' long then, Niz?" the stallion quizzed through the ever thinning flurries of snow. It seemed to the blue-coated Nequus that the only snow in the air now was that which the winds stirred up from the layer that would be under hoof if his hooves were in fact on the ground.
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 10:26 am
She nodded to his question, hoping it was indeed green and not her eyes and the snow playing tricks on her. She could sense the thinning airborn snow and feel it, too. Once she realized there was barely any, she tossed her head and bucked a little, picking up speed. "Good, less wintry is a good sign."
She glanced at Maurice out of the corner of her eye, then focused ahead of her again. "I've wandered around my whole life, but I've stuck to my tree around the valley, but only recently have I had a place to call home. Where have you lived, Maurice?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 11:26 am
"North of 'ere," the blue stallion replied, swooping after his companion. "A bit away from the two-legs' lands." And Gods was he glad to be gone. The whole place was so... well, he wasn't exactly sure what he had against it beyond containing his family and a certain other Nequus he was glad to leave behind but, in his opinion, those grudges and the lack of the great ocean he was going to see were enough cause to want to leave.
The snow that he was skimming over looked very shallow now, barely a dusting on the earth interspersed with frost and even a few patches of vaguely green grass. Maurice's stomach growled pointedly at him; food soon would be most welcome, though his need to eat was far from desperate as yet.
Bit of luck I ran across 'er though. Prob'ly would've been damn skinny by the time I reached the coast otherwise. Because he wouldn't have stopped in the valley they were now approaching if he hadn't been invited. Hell, he probably wouldn't have accepted an invitation if it hadn't been made in genuine kindness and concern rather than just in courtesy.
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 1:12 pm
"Even more north than we just were? Wow, that's really far," she commented thoughtfully. Why would anyone want to stay there? But, she figured that's why he left, so she put the thought into the back of her mind. She glanced down at the ground as she went, noting that the covering was continuously thinning. She snorted, glad for that, and looked back up to watch where she was going so she wouldn't run into anything.
"Almost there!" She called after a few moments, not hearing his growling stomach. Her own stomach was growling a bit, but not much. She hadn't eaten since before she went exploring, but that didn't bother her much. Her ears perked forward as she felt the terrain beneath her hooves shift from snow to constant grass, knowing they would be in the valley within a few minutes.
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 1:21 pm
The ground was sloping slightly now, sweeping down gently into a frosty but green-looking valley. So. These were the famous, fertile lands of D'ob. Lands of peace and plenty, the stories went. He seemed to be placing a lot of his view of the world on stories and, as he had discovered, sometimes people cut out or added details to make a 'better' tale.
What if the ocean wasn't what he was expecting? Then what would he do? The frown of worry that went with this direction of thought was followed almost instantly by an internal shrug and the ebbing of the new uncertainties.
Whatever's there is there already an' me worryin' won' change tha'. Jus' wait an'' see an' assume the best.
Smiling slightly to himself once more, the Ichsa stallion swooped on down into the valley. “Nice place,” he commented to Nizhoni.
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 1:55 pm
Downhill was always so much fun on foot; Niz picked up speed, even though it was only a gentle slope, and gallopped further into the valley. Once the ground evened out, she slowed to a stop near a few trees, then turned to look at Maurice to make sure he hadn't fallen behind. "Yes, it's very nice. I'm glad Nyx asked me to stay here," she said, looking around again. "I don't know where she is at the moment, but I'm sure we'll see her sooner or later, I don't think she roams far from the valley usually." She stretched out her back legs, then stretched out a foreleg to scratch an itch on her nose.
"How long do you think you'll stay?" She asked of the stallion after she'd gotten rid of the itch. "I know how badly you want to go see the ocean." It wasn't that she was anxious for him to leave; quite the opposite. She hoped he'd stay for a few days, at least. He was such a nice stallion, and the first of her breed she'd met. Plus, he was very polite.
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