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Fresh grass and berries were sitting in his basket when he awoke. He guessed that his human had put them there as he could hear her moving about outside the teepee. He sniffed them before taking mouthfuls and slowly chewing. The events of his emergence from the basket he was now eating out of were still tumbling through his head. As he finished the last juicy berry he noticed her ducking back inside the teepee.
"Oh good, you're awake and have eaten." She said cheerfully. "I didn't want to go far unless you were with me so I had my brother pick up your breakfast. We need to go out and find food for you for the next few days, hopefully we'll find a place close by where you can graze."
He cocked his head at her, not understanding what she was saying but her smile made him feel better. He went up to her and nuzzled her hand, looking for more of the food that she had fed him last night. Her laughter rang through their home. "No more food for you, you'll get fat." She coaxed him outside of their teepee and he blinked in the bright sunlight before walking to follow his human.
She was carrying a basket with her that looked smaller than his one and as they walked past bushes and trees, she added fruit into to. They came to a lush meadow, filled with new grass that looked really delicious and he bent his head down to taste some. It was sweet and slightly crisp and he couldn't help but take another mouthful to eat while following her.
Once her basket was nearly full, she started making her way back. He had noticed that all the items in her basket were edible and decided to add his own into there. So as they went through the field, he carefully picked a large mouthful up before trotting back to her and placing his grass in the basket that she was carrying rather low. He heard her laughter again as she put the basket down and touseled his mane. The she too started picking up amounts of the grass and adding it to the basket. This was something he decided that he could do and so "helped" her by gathering his mouthfuls until the basket was full and they started back home.
Once home, he watched her sort out their finds from the foraging, placing all his grass and a few fruits into his basket and the rest into other baskets with lids that were scattered around the teepee. The blueberries however, she left out, placing them into a pot of water and putting it over the outside fire to heat. Once it was really hot and smelled rather nice, instead of giving it to him (which was a much better idea according to the foal), she carefully placed in a large piece of leather and left it outside.
All of this mornings activities had worn out the young foal, and after eating a few more mouthfuls of his grass, he curled up next to his basket and dozed off.

Nirvelli watched the young Midnight Dancer with a smile. Tomorrow her surprise for him would be ready but for now, he was safe and she knew she could spend some time in her garden while he slept

Midnight Dancer had been travelling aimlessly for days after leaving the safty of his humans teepee. Her comforting voice and soft hands were constantly in her thoughts yet he couldnt bring himself to find his way home. He didn't think that she would ever forgive him for making her sick, he didn't know that she could never hold that against anyone but herself.
Lost in his own thoughts, he looked up and found himself in a plain that had been flooded with the rain from the night before he left. Although most of the water had drained away, the ground was still mushy to walk on and there were puddles of water dotted along the landscape. Realising his thirst, he stopped at one, dipping his muzzle in to drink deeply. Thirst quenched, he looked around him again, wishing against everything that he had company for this journey, wherever it was taking him.



]The little Usdia was far from home. She had no idea how far. The rain that had flooded the land where she lived had also managed to get her swept away from her family and friends. The water had pushed her into a fast flowing river which succeeded in carrying her even further before she was washed up on the side of it. She gasped for breathe and lay at the waterside, too exhausted from her struggles to stay abover the water to even think about moving away from the river.
After some time, she realised that her rear hooves still rested in the murky water and she knew she would have to move away. Very carefully, she tried to place her front hooved under her, but the ground was like quicksand, and they just sunk in when she put weight on them. She fought back panic, what would happen if she was still here and it rained again? She had no idea how high the river would come in another flood and she had no wish to die here. She struggled again, finally succeeding in getting the front half of her body supported on her short front legs. Very carefully lifting one and then the other, she dragged her body a few steps forward before attempting to move her rear legs under her. This also took some time to do but she eventually managed it.
Some time later, with a lot of persistance and seeming to find every single bruise and cut on her body, she found stable ground, far enough away from the river to think that she would be safe. Her body was covered in mud, but she didn't care. She was safe.



He decided to keep moving, the deserted plain chilled him. Something told him that he didn't belong here. Once again, he put his head down to the puddle, making sure he wouldn't get thirsty too soon, but he knew he should find a river or something to follow for fresh water. On the other side of the plain was more trees. Surely water must be around there somewhere? His footsteps squished underneath him as he set his direction for the trees. Even if there wasn't a water supply there, at least he would be able to find cover if it was to rain overnight again.
As he got closer to the towering trees, the ground under him became more firm. He deftly moved between them. The darkness under the canopy was strangly comforting and his hooves made no sound on the floor beneath him. He was more alert now, his ears always twitching, listening for sounds of water or anything that might be unwelcoming to his presence. Finally he heard it, the splash and gurgle of flowing water. Smiling softly, he adjusted his path to find it.



She groaned softly. The sun was starting to dry the caked on mud to her body and she knew that it would take a lot of cleaning to get it all off her again. But she held no desire to return to the river that she had just come from. Deciding that maybe a roll on some dry grass would help her a little, the only problem with that, is that she couldn't see any close around her. She knew that unless she got the mud off soon, it would itch and become nearly unbearable.
Setting of in a random direction, watching the ground for a dry patch in what seemed wetter than a swamp. She was so busy watching the grass under her hooves that she smacked her head right into the trunk of a very solid tree. An unexpected whinney of pain escaped her mouth and she found herself sitting on her rear end, dazed and trying to shake the fuzz from her mind.



Midnight Dancer found the river, but the shores of it were made of sticky mud. After taking one step into it he decided that he would have to look elsewhere for a drink or risk getting stuck in it. Then he heard the Whinney of pain from a short distance away. Looking around, he saw a small horse, covered in mud. It looked like it had just hurt itself and his instinct to care for others which had been taught to him by his human took over. A quick trot brought him to the little horse. In the patches of fur where there wasn't mud, he saw patches of blue. The little one looked up at him.
"The tree jumped out and hit me" came the twinkling voice. Middy couldn't help but smile softly.
"Are you ok?" His voiced was full of concern, this was obviously a foal that had gotten seperated from its parents.
The foal shook its head to clear it and looked up at him again. "I'm fine, just a bump I guess." Middy looked over the mud covered body of the foal before his next suggestion.
"Would you like some help getting that mud off your body? I can get some stiff leaved branches to brush you off with."
She smiled. "That would be wonderful, it's already starting to itch." Middy quickly looked around the trees before finding one with branches suitable for the task. Taking on in his mouth, he pulled it down sharply, causing it to crack and break off the tree. It took a bit of brushing from him and occasional rolling on the ground from her before her true colors were visable again. He stood back and admired his handywork. She looked just like the horizon that he had been looking at for days on end. Lush green grass topped with cloudy blue sky. "You're an odd looking foal." he finally said. There was something just not right with this foals looks compared to what he knew from the village.



Foal? She laughed. "I'm not a soquili like you, I'm a Usdia. My name is Sunny." She couldn't help but smile at him. Obviously this stallion hadn't seen many like her, if any at all. She turned about in front of him. "I'm not a foal either, I'm fully grown. I am short compared to other adult Usdias though." She watched as his face went from confusion to vague understanding before he nodded. She didn't press to get him to understand any more, happy that he understood that she wasn't a foal that needed to be taken care of. "So what's your name?"
"My human calls me Midnight Dancer, and sometimes she calls me Middy. I answer to both." She nodded at him. Then she looked around, noticing that night was quickly falling.
"Middy, I think we need to find somewhere to sleep tonight. I don't feel comfortable sleeping out in the open."
He nodded in agreement, not about to admit that he felt the same. Together, the walked deeper into the forest to sleep.


They spent many weeks together, when they found themselves close to her home. This is where she decided to go back to her herd and tell them that she was ok.

Midnight Dancer was lost without her friendship and wandered around the area before meeting up with a mare called Nijita...


Sunny's stats
Strength: 10%
Courage: 4%
Speed: 12%
Intelligence: 7%
Luck: 8%
Stamina: 9%

Tetsuya's stats (basket)
Strength: 10%
Courage: 10%
Speed: 10%
Intelligence: 8%
Luck: 7%
Stamina: 9%

Sunny had taken to wandering along the seashore while her big friend got to know his son. She understood that he felt the strong connection to the foal, but them spending time together often left her for long periods alone. She didn't mind too much, but she was starting to get lonely.
The seashore seemed to offer something to her, it calmed her restless spirit and eased her pangs for company.

The little seathi often spent his days playing in the corals around the shoreline, chasing smaller fish just for the fun of it and playing hide'n'seek with the anemones. He had never known any reason to fear anything and as far as he was concerned, he was the best thing in his swimming range. While he had mild curiosity about life outside the water, for the most part it never crossed his mind to live any other way.
Then one day the worst happened, while he was jumping high to show off to the other seathi in the area, a freak wave knocked him away from the water, and tossed him high onto the shoreline.

The wave had dowsed Sunny with water, she stood with a sigh and shook the excess from her body, thankful that the day was warm enough to dry her out pretty quickly. She heard a cry of distress coming from behind her, turning towards the sound, she saw a small creature flailing about, it seemed to be in a panic. Walking up to it to try and calm it down, she murmured soothing noises towards it.
"It's OK little one, it was only a wave of water, it won't hurt you." The creature was tiny, smaller than a usdia foal and she examined it quickly. It's skin was drying out quickly but that seemed to be the reason for the panic. Then she noticed the tail.

Bonaventure whinnied in panic as the other creature picked him up in it's mouth. He tried to get loose but it wouldn't let him. Even though he was very secure, he also realized that there was no pressure in the teeth, just enough so that he wouldn't be dropped. It was a very short time before he found himself being dropped back in his ocean home. He stuck his head above the water and looked back at where he had come from. The other creature, which he could now tell was a land based soquili, was making it's way back to the drier land. it had brought him back a nice distance into the water, he could see the other soquili struggling slightly with each wave, but it made it safely back to where it belong.
"Thank you!" he called out and saw the head turn towards him and smile.

Sunny and Bonaventure started spending time together, her telling him about the life on land, of getting used to a human leaving food for her, of her other friend and his son, of the loneliness she felt. he in turn told her of life in the water, of not having to answer to anyone, of the thrill of swimming everywhere. neither of them were jealous of the other, but enjoyed the others company.

One day Bonaventure showed Sunny a brightly colored shell. She had been concerned as she had noticed that he seemed to be getting a little fat, but now that weight was gone. he told her that he had been carrying his young foals with him until they were big enough to go into shells, like the land based soquili used baskets. Sunny gazed at the bright shell again. So his baby was in there, just like Middy's baby was in the basket that he dropped off with his human so many months ago. She thought back to the day when she left her herd, and wondered what it would be like to have a reason to use the baskets.

Tetsuya dropped the basket in his and his fathers sleeping area. Unlike his father though, he knew the meaning of the basket and he knew of the treasures kept inside. He had enjoyed the time he had lived with the kind human, he had also really enjoyed getting to know the mare that he did, the one that produced the small foal that was safe in the basket.
But now, he had an urge to travel. His father had often spoken of the sights he had seen while on his travels. Stories of meeting the small usdia and of finding a mare to spend some time with. What really caught his interest though, was the chance to see something new, possibly something that had never been seen by a soquili that lived near these humans.
So they had struck a deal. He was to wait until the foals were safe in their baskets and make sure that their human knew of it, before his father and him would leave the village and travel together. Midnight Dancer had already been in one direction, so they made their plans to leave in the other.
He just about danced in delight at the idea, but first, the human must know. Screwing up his nose, he went in search of her, finding her in the communal garden that she shared with a few other villagers. Very gently, he used his teeth to tug on her clothing.

Nirvelli looked at the purple stallion, her Middy's son. He tugged on her again, somewhat urgently, but there was delight in his huge eyes and she smiled at him. "I'm coming Tet, hang on, let me get some more corn picked for dinner tonight." But obviously, he wasn't going to let her do this small task as he tugged again, this time, refusing to let go until she stood fully upright. Sighing, she started to follow him to their little lean-to.
Now Tetsuya stood behind her and nudged her back, pushing her into the opening in the leather that acted as a weather breaker. Laughing softly, she went inside and looked around. Everything looked normal, at least that's how it seemed at first glance. As she went to step out, the purple stallion blocked her way. What was he trying to show her?
She looked around again before she saw it.
Light blues, swirls of darker blues, scattered over with white points of light. Midnight Dancers stars.
At once she knew who's basket this was. She had seen Tetsuya hanging around with the silvery mare and guessed there might of been a romance going on between them.
Stepping outside once again, she wrapped her arms around his neck and breathed a promise to care for it before she noticed her beloved Midnight Dancer standing to the edge of the forest. As Tetsuya started moving towards him, tears sprung to her eyes as she realised what was happening. Middy was leaving her again, but this time, his son was going too. All of a sudden, her legs grew weak and she found herself on the ground, silent tears falling as she watched them vanish into the trees.
"I promise I'll care for you baby Tetsuya, we'll be here when you get home again..."


Personal note: It's been so long since I've done anything here, so most of my RPs are going to be somewhat out of place until they're all caught up. I'm just letting my muse run with it.

TWO BASKETS

Midnight Dancer's little herd doubles.


Father and son prepared to leave the herd of other Soquili, both of them carefully guarding baskets. Midnight Dancer had a brilliant yellow with a multi-blue brim, while Tetsuya's was a mixture of brown and green, with a soft pink brim.

Midnight Dancer was curious as to why the mares had decided to give them baskets, but remembering the purple basket that another mare had given him, so long ago, he started thinking that maybe they were gifts. Had he done the right thing by taking the first basket back to his human? Even though, this time, he was too far from home to take it back, he would have to bring it with him.

Tetsuya on the other hand, knew exactly what was in the baskets. He was very aware when Trinity Rose grew big with foal, and he watched curiously as his fathers mate, Bubbles, grew as well. He was very interested in the little lives inside the baskets that they were taking with them but also thought about the other four baskets that were left behind. Leaving them behind wasn't his choice, if he could of, he would of taken the other two baskets that Trinity presented him with, and her with him. But she had taken him aside one night and explained that she had fallen in love, with another mare. while he was upset with it, he couldn't refuse her the chance of true love and promised that if he could, he would come and visit her. He knew that would be the only chance he had of ever seeing the other foals.
He did think of staying, if only to help raise his foals, but he knew that he would always feel an outsider without a mare of his own, and because the other mare had agreed to help raise the foals, he knew they were going to be very well raised.

As the sun rose, both stallions took their baskets and left. They had discussed going home, but something inside them urged them to continue. Their saw them following the western edge of the mountain range. Whenever they took the time to eat, sleep or socialise with other soquili, there was always at least one of them watching the baskets. Midnight Dancer originally wanted to open them, to see what was inside, it was only after a lively discussion with Tetsuya that he agreed to leave them closed, at least for a while.

It was right in the middle of the day when loud noises could be heard coming out of both baskets. Midnight Dancer was so surprised that he nearly dropped his, whereas Tetsuya just smiled and gently lay his on the ground. Thankfully, his father followed his example and watched, wide-eyed as the tops of both baskets slowly got urged off.

The bright yellow head emerged from Midnight Dancers basket first, and the tall stallion nearly fell over in surprise. A foal. His foal? Bubbles's foal? Then suddenly a glimmer of sunlight seems to emerge in his mind. The purple basket and the purple stallion that he had decided to travel with. Tetsuya emerged from that purple basket, just like this yellow foal was from this basket and next to it, a green and brown head coming out of the other basket. He looked back at Tetsuya.
"Is there something you should explain to me?"
Tetsuya saw the understanding in his father's eyes, an understanding that turned warmer towards him as he explained where these "gifts" came from and who they were.
"I left a purple basket with the human before leaving to find Sunny, when I came back, there was a little purple foal. You came out of that basket didn't you?"
Tetsuya's only answer was a smile.

By this time, both foals had fully exited their baskets and had noticed each other. They were both colts, with personalities as different as their looks.
Now that Midnight Dancer understood his relationship to this colt, he named his foal Sol Dancer, while Tetsuya named the flowery colt Nalin.

They took the rest of the day to let the colts get used to their new legs and for the small family herd to get to know each other. But once again, the next day saw the group heading west again, the urge to continue driving the stallions on.

They were the best of friends. Their personalities completely complimented each other.
The headstrong one was often the one that had the ideas for some crazy scheme while the other tended to try reason it out, to avoid getting them in trouble with their fathers.
This wasn't going to be a day when he would succeed however.
"Come on 'Lin! I saw it just through the bushes here.." The yellow foal called back to his friend. The murky foal shook his head, sending his mane in all directions. "I don't think it's a good idea, it'll be nightfall soon, and you know that Grandfather and Father don't like for us to be away after the sunset."
But Sol Dancer was stubborn. He had seen something interesting and was determined to check it out, no matter what his nephew thought of the idea. He glanced back and smiled as Nalin slowly followed.
He was right, what he had seen wasn't far away, laying on the ground, quite still really, with a few little bugs flying in and out of it. He sniffed the air, it smelt sweet, really sweet. The smell was coming from that thing on the ground. With his head down, he moved closer to it.
"Do you think that's safe?" came from his companion
"Of course it is, these little bugs couldn't hurt us. And anyway, we're just looking. There must be something yummy inside it though."
He nudged it with his nose, making it buzz loudly. This startled him slightly, but it calmed down after a short amount of time.
"There must be something trapped inside it" he thought. Without warning, he raised himself up on his hind legs and sent his front hooves crashing though the strange, buzzing thing.
Big mistake.
The swarm of bees were ANGRY and not just angry in general. Angry at the two foals who were close by. Almost as one, they aimed for the closest, the bright yellow one.
Sol's eyes widened in shock. What were these things? The first sting made him whinny in pain, the many more that followed had him screaming in pain and fear. Him and Nalin turned and raced back to their fathers.
Midnight Dancer and Tetsuya heard the noise, and thinking their sons were under attack, they galloped towards the sound. Upon seeing the bees, they turned and started leading the way towards the river.
"Get to the river!" yelled Midnight Dancer, "take a deep breath and go fully underwater for as long as you can!"
The foals obeyed as the stallions did the same, trying to avoid the stings of the annoying insects.
It seemed like forever before they left. The foals and stallions had been taking fresh breaths as they needed them, using the time to check for more attacks. Once it was safe, all four made their way back to shore.
The adults were furious. But one look at the foals faces and the sting welts appearing over their bodies was enough punishment. The found a plant with soothing sap and smeared the leaves over the worst areas before sending the foals to a safe area to sleep.
This would be something to chuckle over later, but not tonight.