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 Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2012 1:37 pm
"It is nearly impossible to lose contact with the spirits if your mind is open to them. There is a spirit in everything, even the rocks; however, sometimes it is hard to hear them because we forget that they are there, we close our ears and minds to them. Sometimes their messages are muddled, hard to hear or hard to understand. That is why I meditate, to get a clearer understanding of their guidance." He could understand why it would seem strange or faulty to others. But it made sense to him. In his opinion, the fact that they were alive was proof that there was something out there. The fact that he wasn't killed or eaten when he was abandoned as a basket was proof that there was something watching over him.
"I am still refining my skills, one can never truly stop learning," he said and smiled genuinely, "perhaps I can teach you someday, if you would like." He decided that she was not a spirit, because she was too doubtful of their existence. But he was sure she was a message, one that was hard to decipher, but a message nonetheless. He listened to the water, telling him that they should continue forward. He grinned faithfully at the water spirit and thanked it silently for its advice.
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Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2012 11:47 am
Chatura found it difficult to think of things that weren't tangible; if she couldn't see, smell or touch it then it was beyond her way of thinking and not something she dwelt on. She was interested in the hows, and the whys, and wasn't sure she could have faith in that which she didn't know for herself.
'My mind is open to the possibility of new knowledge, but I always feel like I have to trust my senses, weigh up that which I am being shown and told with what I know from my own experiences.' she explained as they walked along, following the slowly flowing water as it cut a meandering path.
'So I find it difficult to accept things on face value, so yes, I would like you to teach me if you can Sastimos. It will be the only way I will understand of what you speak of.'
The mare turned and smiled at him, stumbling for a moment as she did so, a hoof finding a shallow dip in the ground. She stopped, wiggling the hoof to make sure her ankle was sound, and gave a small laugh at her clumsiness.
'You've got me falling over at your words.' she said, teasing slightly, smiling sweetly at him once more. She was possibly flirting a little, but he was easy to talk to and she was getting more relaxed the longer they walked together.
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Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2012 1:27 pm
"Then I will show you someday," he nodded, pleased at finding a willing and able student to teach the ways of listening to the spirits and meditating. He smiled. "Sometimes the senses are misleading. Sometimes we have to teach ourselves how to lose our normal senses so that we may gain new ones," he said, leaping reflexively to catch her as she stumbled. He watched her turn her ankle, making sure that she was alright.
If his blue pelt could show signs of a blush, he would be bright red at the moment. He could feel his face burning, but he gulped down his sudden nerves and smiled back at her gently, looking into those beautiful purple eyes once again. "Lucky I was here to catch you," he said with a chuckle, thinking it was an awkward response. He didn't know how to flirt, really. But he would give it a try. He nudged her lightly with a grin, and then walked ahead of her to continue following the trail of the water and to...what was it called? Play hard to get? Yes. That was it.
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Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2012 1:40 pm
'You think that?' Chatura hurried forwards, but moving with more care as she didn't want to stumble in a way that might cause her a temporary lameness. She drew up in front of him so that he would have to stop walking, her conversation with this stallion now more important than finding her way home; he interested her and so she was now in no hurry, once she found her proper bearings there were places she could shelter on her journey home.
'My senses don't mislead me right now, I see..' she reached out and tugged on his mane, lipping at the long hairs.
'I can feel you. You can feel me. When have your senses mislead you? The mind plays tricks and can misread what your senses take in, I find that would be the only way to be 'mislead'.'
She smiled at him, and nodded.
'I am, I very much appreciate that I ran into you, it was my good fortune to come across a very worthy stallion, a true gentleman.'
Chatura gave her mane a little flick and walked off first this time, glancing over her shoulder at Sastimos as she did so
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Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2012 7:14 pm
"That is true. But when speaking to the spirits, normal senses are less important...or perhaps more important. They are all heightened in your mindset during meditation to be in touch with the spirits," he said, pulling to a halt before her and backing up a little. The more he tried to explain and the more he tried to resist toying back with her, the more his mind became frazzled. Oh, she was good.
But, he needed to focus on getting her to safety. He needed to save her. Needed to...Oh give it up Sastimos, have some fun. He knew it would be ok with the spirits if he took a break. They would always be there. He didn't need to listen to anything but his natural senses right now. He had never been flirted with, or done any flirting himself. His life had been alarmingly void of pretty mares and witty banter. Why not take advantage of it now?
Perhaps she wasn't actually flirting...but no, the change in her mentality from earlier was too vast not to mean something. He watched the flick of her mane, watched her turn and give him that ever so beckoning glance over her shoulder. He trotted up beside her sneakily, wading in the icy coolness of the water and lifting a hoof quickly so that the water sprayed in the air and landed on her side in a splash.
"Can you feel that?" he laughed heartily and grinned at her like a young colt who had just won a race.
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Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 12:19 pm
'More and less important? I'm not sure that they can be both at the same time. But, as I said, you shall teach me, and I shall endeavour to understand in my analytical way.' Chatura said, thinking that the meditation he spoke of could just be a way of calming the chatter in ones mind and tapping into a pure stream of consciousness where you understood your surroundings better.
She turned again as she heard him enter the water, and it was at the last moment she realised what he was about to do, alas too late for her to do anything but let out the girliest squeal that she'd ever made, the hairs of her pelt along her neck raising as the cold spray hit her.
'Eeek! Sastimos!' she scolded, jumping into the shallow water and stomped her hoof, hoping to splash water back at the stallion. Had she felt it! She wondered if he was attempting to play or flirt back as she skipped back out of the water, her teeth chattering as she attempted to stamp warmth back into her legs.
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Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 2:58 pm
He gave one last laugh after dodging her splash and then realized he might have taken it a little too far. The water was pretty cold. He pulled up beside her after leaving the cold of the water and pressed his side to hers, hoping to warm her up.
"I apologize, that water is cold," he said, a warm smile in his eyes. He nudged her lightly and stood, trying not to shiver himself. After getting a little more warmth into his legs and hopefully hers as well, he walked forward a little. He knew it was probably best that they kept moving, even if he had to flirt while walking it would be important to at least find shelter before it got dark again.
((Sorry for the short reply, gotta go to work. D smile )
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Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 6:17 am
(( No worries ))
'The water is cold, and the water you splashed on me seemed as if it were colder, if such a thing were possible.' Chatura replied, attempting to sound annoyed but he was pressed close against her to swap body heat, and she was appreciative, and discomfited as it was a pleasant feeling, kind of comforting.
Get a grip!she told herself, giving a little shake of her head. In the next little while she might find her bearings, and be parting ways with the stallion, and there was little point feeling anything if she was never to see him again. Which was a rather grumpy thought, and so she merely nodded at his apology, following him as he walked on, lost for a time in her own thoughts so it was a while before she spoke again.
'I think this should have joined onto a larger waterway by now.' she said, looking around, listening in case she could hear anything that would indicate they were near a river.
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Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 11:42 am
"Ah, you see now how perception of senses can be deceiving," he said a little quietly, looking around and listening for a larger body of water and realizing that he himself may have been deceived by his own perceptions. Perhaps he had heard the water spirit wrong. Or perhaps it had not fully grasped what he needed from it...or perhaps it had...
"Chatura, maybe you are not supposed to return home," he said in a half joke and half serious tone. He certainly didn't want to part ways with the mare, not after all they had been through over the past few days. And now that they were finally becoming more friendly with each other, he didn't want to make a friend and then have her leave him behind...leave him behind like his parents had done. Like almost everyone else had done besides the spirits who had reassured him that he was not alone.
No, it is your duty to take her where she needs to go. He thought to himself. "Let's turn around and see if it joins up ahead," he said with a sigh containing undertones of loneliness and sorrow. He turned slowly, ready to follow the river back up to where they had been before.
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Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 11:59 am
'It only seemed that way because I was taken by surprise, obviously I know that just because you splashed me shouldn't mean the water as any colder than that in the stream.' Chatura countered, though she did so with a little smile.
She had enjoyed their time together once they had gotten over the intial tricky patch, it had been a while since she had come across someone who had a personal view that interested her enough to talk and debate at this length, and longer still that she had found interesting enough to pursue further research. Though now she wondered if that was not more to do with the potential tutor than the subject.
'You would have me stay? If not to my home, where would I go Sastimos?' she regarded him thoughtfully, her expression serious though not angry at the idea.
'No..' she shook her head, standing fast, waiting for him to turn and face her again.
'I have to return home at some point, I can't simply never see my family again. But I am old enough to stay away for a time without causing too much worry, so tell me, should I stay with you?'
She could spend the winter with him, whereever he called home. Her mother would understand, and it would be safer to travel in the spring. But, that was only if she were invited to do so, otherwise she would take his help to find her way and head home.
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Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 3:52 pm
He chuckled at her retort, knowing that she was not as angry as she sounded and continuing to walk.
Stay with him? Was that was he wanted? It was selfish, but yes. That was what he wanted. He couldn't help but like her, maybe even have romantic thoughts about her, of course he wanted her to stay. But she didn't sound particularly excited about that idea, but she didn't seem opposed to it either. He stopped and turned to her. "Tell me, Chatura, would you stay with me? If I asked it of you?" he said. It was strange for him to want another being so badly. Especially one he had just met.
Besides, where would he take her? Would he bring her back to the herd to stay there for the winter? Would that be allowed? Would she want to be a part of a herd, even for a short time? Or would he wait to return to his home after spending the winter with her? She had only just met him, why would she want to stay with him? She wouldn't. Not when she had a family waiting for her somewhere. He didn't have that. But he wanted it. He smiled at her with sad eyes, knowing that he could not force her to stay. She had a life of her own, he wouldn't keep her from that just for his own selfish reasons.
But if she asked...if she wanted to stay...just for a while longer...He looked at her, trying to decipher what she was thinking. If he could only read minds. If only the spirits had blessed him with that gift.
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Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 5:25 am
Chatura smiled inwardly; so he had been flirting, and there was something there. She'd felt his interest, and she'd felt something bud within herself but she wouldn't have said anything without feeling out how he felt. She wasn't about to expose herself to more mortification than had already happened since she met him.
She fell silent after he had spoken, as if she were weighing up his words with much solemn thought. Which she was, but not solemnly, she just didn't want him to think she was a flighty mare who jumped at any sort of attention from a male.
'Ask me. Then you'll have your answer.' she said, finally breaking the silence. Her expression was warm though, so he could take hope that her answer was likely to be positive.
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Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 2:06 pm
How could he ask such a thing? How could he ask that of a stranger, of a mare who had a family to return to? He paused as well, thinking of how to phrase such an important question and begging the spirits to help him now. And what if she said no? What if all of this flirting and mental torment was only for laughs on her part? But no, she didn't seem like that type. All the same, he felt his mouth go dry as he looked into her eyes in an attempt to see past her solemn exterior.
"Chatura...will you stay with me?" he asked quietly, looking down at the ground and preparing for the blow of receiving a negative answer. There was no one in his life. He figured that was a result of himself. He had always suspected there was something wrong with him. That was why his mother had left, and why his father hadn't even known of his existence. Why would she want to stay with him? Because he had rescued her from a potentially nonexistent enemy? Anyone could have done that. He had simply been in the right place at the right time. But still he hoped that her answer was yes, and had some optimism that she might actually be interested in him.
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Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2013 11:35 am
Chatura waited quietly, wondering if he would indeed show the fortitude to be able to ask for something if he really wanted it. It was a small thing, but she wanted to know that he was forthright enough beyond holding his own in a conversation with her.
And then he spoke, and she smiled. It was enough, more than enough for now, and that he had said it without really knowing if she would reciprocate spoke volumes. She decided to be kind and not let him hang there for an answer longer than necessary.
'I will.' she replied, simply. It was all that needed to be said just then really, though he deserved more and she gently pressed her nose against his for a moment, nudging his head upwards so that he would look at her again.
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Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2013 8:16 pm
Those two words were all he needed to hear. His spirits lifted with her reply and he looked into her eyes with a smile, blushing slightly when their noses met. He didn't know how long she intended to stay, she could be gone by tomorrow. But what mattered most was that she was here now and he knew that there was some potential between them.
What were they going to do now? If she was staying, then there was no use to follow the river anymore. Where would they go? He couldn't return to the herd, not with her. He decided that here by her side was where he belonged right now. After all, he was the one who had asked her to stay with him. He would find somewhere for them to stay, he could return to the herd later on in life. He thought for one moment that this was so much to give up for a relative stranger, but the feeling faded quickly. He looked into her eyes for as long as possible, and then nuzzled her lightly before asking her,
"Where to next?"
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