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 Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 11:28 am
Sol bobbed his head in agreement. "Of course; let us be away then." So saying, the Ichsa set off at a walk that he thought the little ones could both keep up with and not be bored by. They were sweet, excitable and their company was pleasant so far. He wouldn't be able to go at full pace with them about but a flat out gallop wasn't very conducive to searching anyway. He hoped they wouldn't tire of them too soon; though he'd always been too busy to take a mate he loved foals and sometimes wished to have his own. Since these two didn't have parents it would probably be alright for him to... well not keep them, obviously but... but at least be with them for a while and teach them some things.
"So tell me," Sol began, looking down at the matched foals, "how much do you know about the ocean?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 11:45 am
"It's big!" Damon exclaimed, stating the obvious. "And it's blue!"
The filly nodded her head vigorously, trotting alongside Sol. It wasn't much, but that was all they knew. The only description they had of it was from passersby. Though newcomers were fairly common, it wasn't often they would talk of the ocean, and as the foals hadn't visited the vast body of water themselves, they only knew what they heard from others. "And.. It has lots and lots and lots of water!" Damon had beat her to those two facts, but at least she could tell him how much water was in it, as if he didn't already know, but then a thought struck her and she gasped, wide-eyed. "Have you ever been to the ocean, Sol?"
"Ooh!" Clearly Damon hadn't thought of this possibility, but it seemed very appealing. "Have you ever been there? Could you tell us about it please?"
"Could you take us there?" The filly breathed, ears perked and eyes wide, almost breathless with anticipation. If he had been there he could tell them about it, and if he could tell them about it after being there he could show it to them, and that would be absolutely magnificent for the foals.
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 12:02 pm
The stallion repressed a 'squee' at their enthusiasm. "Yes," he confirmed, "I've been to the ocean. In fact that is where I came to you from." How to describe it... "Quirne is its name," the Ichsa began. "The land comes to an abrupt end and the world falls away as steep as a tree trunk but far taller in most places. These are the cliffs, ancient and new at once and made of craggy rock. At their feet there is the beach. In some places this is made up of pebbles, rounded by the ocean bumping them together, and in others it is sand although I have been told that sand is stone also, but broken into the tiniest fragments you can imagine."
The tendril-winged Nequus smiled faintly as he recalled the breezes and the sights of the coast. He could understand how one could become captivated by it all. "Then," he went on after a moment or two, "comes the ocean. Sometimes it looks blue, sometimes more green but it always washes up and down the beach. During storms it throws itself up against the cliffs with more power than you can imagine and the pieces it breaks off fall to be thrown about and made into more beach. The smell is... it cannot be well described for it is like nothing else I have ever smelt but I would say it is fresher than any air I have ever tasted."
Still smiling, the stallion hop-skipped over a tiny rivulet before looking down at the pair of foals. "If you would like," he said, lowering his head conspiratorially, "I will take you to it once we have found Kati the Rit." Perhaps they would be with him for a little while. Maybe he could show them D'ob, too. That would be good.
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 12:26 pm
They listened to his description with rapt attention, trotting along beside the walking stallion to keep up with him, perfectly stunned that he had been and could tell them all about it. They could both picture it in their minds eye, awed by the beauty they pictured from his words. "It sounds beautiful!"
"Wonderful!"
"Magnificent!"
"You can take us?"
"Stunn--you will?" They both froze, staring wide-eyed at the stallion. He offered to take them to the ocean? Calliope leaped over the rivulet and stared up at him, in awe. "Are you really gonna take us to the ocean, Sol?" Damon attempted to jump over as well, but merely landed with a splash and an 'eek!' in the middle of it. "D'you promise?"
The colt quickly emerged from the stream and shook off, prancing around them in a circle. "You're really gonna take us there? Really?"
"Well come on then, we've gotta find Kati and go to the ocean!" Callie exclaimed, the shock finally subsiding and the fact they would visit the ocean sinking in, and she took off in the direction they were headed. "Come on, slow pokes!"
"Hey, wait for me!" The colt shouted, galloping off as fast as he could after his sister, though he knew she outpaced him, not even thinking of how fast Sol could run.
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 12:43 pm
The horned stallion smiled gently and nodded. "Aye, I shall take you to the ocean as soon as we find Kati and set her on the path to finding her Colleen; you have my solemn word on that." Along with his words Sol gave his companions the deep bow and touch of his horn to the ground that he usually used to seal a bargain or promise.
No sooner had he done this than they were away, gambolling with the kind of exuberance that seemed unique to foals. Grinning to himself, the Ichsa sprung after Damon making sure to keep just behind the little colt. "You'd better run fast little black rainbow or the nibble monster will have you!" he called, as he recalled a game that his parents had played with him when he was little. He'd catch up with the lad in the end and, when he did, the black mane would get a thorough scratching with his teeth. After that it would be Calliope’s turn.
…Perhaps they would be his after all in some way. He wouldn't be a father to them, no, but he would be a friend; a fun older friend who took them places and taught them things. That was probably more fun than being a father in any case.
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 12:55 pm
The what?! Whatever it was, it didn't sound good to the little colt, so he tried to run as fast as his legs could carry him towards his sister, which was a bad idea. He stumbled, as always, and was sent tumbling into the ground in a flurry of writhing limbs. He wasn't hurt, of course, so he sprung up as fast as possible. Disoriented only momentarily, he spotted his sister and ran after her again, still wondering what in the world the nibble monster could be.
Calliope heard Sol threaten with some nibbling monster, then heard her brother fall. She couldn't help but laugh, he would get better soon, she figured. In the meantime, she lengthened her short strides as much as possible, dashing away as fast as she could. "Catch me if you can!" She called as she leaped over another of the plentiful rivulets, knowing full-well that her brother couldn't.
The little black colt looked backward at Sol, ears perked. "Go get her, she's too fast, I can never catch her!" He hoped his appeal would work; though she wasn't as fast as most other foals, she was still much faster than he.
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 1:11 pm
Sol smiled down at the brightly patterned colt and nodded. "Alright then." So saying, the Ichsa flowed forward; all elegant legs and whipping hair. The worm of water the filly leapt he crossed in a stride and only a few later he had danced around in front of her. "Nibble monster!" he announced, dipping his head to give the white's mane a thorough grooming whilst his larger body blocked her from immediate escape.
As he continued to nibbled at Calliope's mane, the pale stallion raised his brown eyes to regard Damon. He gave the black colt a brief grin before turning his attention back to the white foal he had just caught up with. Foals were fun; he’d always known they would be. Oh he didn’t expect looking after them was always this easy but, right now, he couldn’t think of a thing in the world he’d rather be doing than playing with this pair as he continued his search for Kati.
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 1:43 pm
"Yay!" Damon exclaimed, grinning, hoping to be able to catch up now. The filly didn't know Sol was nearby until he had appeared in front of her, causing her to stumble to a halt to avoid running into him. As if that wasn't bad enough, he suddenly declared something about a nibble monster. What in the world--
"Eek!!" He had startled her; she hadn't expected him to start messing with her mane. Damon, however, laughed as he jumped over the stream, catching up rather quickly now since Sol and Calliope were standing. The Ichsa was certainly loads of fun; he hoped that they could stick with him for a while longer, even after they visited the ocean.
"Do you think Kati is here, or do you think she went somewhere else?" He inquired, trotting up beside Sol, ignoring his squirming sister. He knew that he couldn't sneakily ask if she was at the ocean in order to go there sooner, because the tendril-winged stallion had told them that he had just come to the crystal lands from there. "Where else could she be?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 1:55 pm
The pale-coated stallion frowned thoughtfully and ceased his nibbling. He hadn't really thought about it until now... "Well, let me see. The Rit who saw her had seen her very recently. I took off as fast as I could and I feel I may have been negligent in actually looking about myself at times. Since Rit are such small things... she's probably behind me."
Sol peered back in the direction he had come from and gave another thoughtfully frown. "I think we might stand a better chance of finding Kati by doubling back towards the ocean." It made sense so far as he could see it. If what Nyx thought she had gathered was right and Coleen and Kati had been separated at the coast the Rit might not want to be too far from the sea in case the Ichsa mare went back there. So why had she told his informant she was headed for the crystal lands?... Perhaps it was where the mismatched pair usually lived.
"Alright then," Sol smiled, prancing back a little. "Who feels like going south towards the sea?" With luck they’d run into Kati or information about her soon; he wanted his quest over for more than Coleen sake now. He wanted to take the siblings to the ocean.
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 2:37 pm
Calliope gratefully stumbled away a few paces, then gave herself a thorough shake. She hadn't ever been attacked by a nibble monster before, and it was very... Different.
"Behind?" Damon repeated, blinking a few times, then turned to look to where they had recently left, then back to the stallion. "Back towards the ocean?"
Calliope froze, understanding dawning upon her before ever the stallion suggested it. She nearly leapt with joy, dashing over as fast as she could. "Oh, yes! To the ocean, let's go back to the ocean!"
"Oh, yay, the ocean!" The black colt ran past them, clearly intent on getting as much of a head start as possible.
"Wait, Damon! Wait up!" His twin called, racing after him quickly, wondering why in the world he would race off like that. "Wait, Damon! You don't know how to get there!"
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 2:53 pm
Sol laughed and cantered after the black colt, coming to a halt only once he stood a little way before the youth, blocking him from running much further. "The ocean is that way Damon," he said with a toss of his head towards the colt’s white sibling. "If you want to get to Quirne," he went on, "always go south. I shall have to teach you both to navigate by sun and stars; it is an invaluable skill if you intend to travel much during your life and avoid getting overly lost."
He had so many things to teach them. Navigation, sparring, true battle, how to deal with different kinds of Nequus... Perhaps he could even teach them to fly. How different could it be for the different breeds? Besides, he'd watched leather-winged Nequus fly many a time and surely he had gleaned some knowledge from that... Well, time would tell.
"Come my friends," the brown-eyed Ichsa smiled, "let us go in search of Kati and then of mighty Quirne." Meeting this pair was quite possibly the best thing that had happened to him in years. Smiling and giving Damon and nudge, Sol set off back the way he had come.
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 8:29 pm
"What?" The little colt had been too busy running to notice Sol until he cantered ahead of him, then stopped, looking ahead of them and then towards where the stallion had indicated. "Oh..."
Calliope laughed, dashing off in the direction Sol had indicated. At least Sol could catch up to Damon faster than she could, but that also meant someone could catch up to her now, which wasn't as nice, but still. It was nice to be able to have someone else to talk to, to play with, and to travel with. The ocean! She could hardly believe it. "Come on, slowpokes!" She called, sprinting off as fast as her thin legs could carry her.
"Wait!" He called back, exasperated, and dashed off after her. He was a touch embarrassed at having rushed off in the wrong direction, but Sol didn't seem to mind much, so Damon figured it was all right. But still, the ocean! He could hardly wait! It was the thought of seeing the grand ocean that caused him to lengthen his short strides, pushing himself to the limit in his attempt to match his sister's speed.
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Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 4:19 am
The tendril-winged stallion hesitated for a moment before setting off alongside Damon at an easy lope. Being left behind probably wasn’t all that much fun and he could always go up and run with Calliope later on. It was definitely good that he’d met this pair; as he’d said, three pairs of eyes were better than one and making sure not to leave the foals behind would stop him from shooting off like a mad thing and forgetting to look about at his surroundings.
The only danger in this, Sol decided as he looked from the filly ahead to the colt at his side, was getting so enthralled in the foals that he forgot what he had been sent here to do.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 2:32 pm
Oh well, at least the colt had someone to run with, instead of being the one left behind. He stuck his tongue out, running as fast as his thin legs could carry him, trying to catch up to his white sister. He knew he couldn't, but it was always fun to try.
She continued her strong pace, leaping over the little rivulets whenever she happened across one of the many in the crystal lands. Finally, they were going to the ocean! The place so vaguely described by passersby, the place that had intrigued the both of them since they first heard of it.
They didn't know how long Sol would stay with them, it didn't occur to them at all. He was here now, going to show them the ocean, and they would help him find Kati. It didn't occur to them at all that he might leave thereafter.
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